


Chronolapse

by Rhyagelle



Category: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Secret of Mana - Fandom
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crossover, Time Travel, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-07-27 11:50:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7616974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhyagelle/pseuds/Rhyagelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A ripple in time and space has awoken an ancient entity. In an effort to bring this nearing calamity to an end, a fragile old man uses some of the last of his strength to summon forth one warrior to help fight back the fierce new threat. With all of existence and time itself on the verge of collapse, it will require this warrior crossing boundaries that should not be crossed in order to bring together a force that can save them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Night Without Stars

# 

# ~Prologue~

 

“Wake child.”

The words left a gentle ringing in his ears, yet he could hear them clearly. His body tingled, as if ready to spring upward instantaneously and his mind ached with familiarity of the voice. Slowly, suddenly overwhelmed with a pain deep inside of him, he opened his eyes.

Blackness greeted him. No, not blackness entirely, but a sea of dark colors marked by perfect patterns of colorful dots that sparkled like lamps far out of reach. When he struggled up, he knew where he was. The place between time and existence, where he and his friends had battled desperately and painfully against Ex-death, a sentient lifeform that came from the corruption of the Guardian Tree. He always knew he would see this place again. He knew it when they finished off ExDeath and the twisted thing couldn’t even recognize the feeling of fear for its own death. Still he had hoped with all his might that he would not be needed to defend the Crystals again, nor any of his friends.

_Did we fail?_

“No, child, you did not fail your worlds. You breathed life into them anew when they were too close to defeat, but as such with life...it eventually drains again.” He looked up and saw a man engulfed in a thick black cloak, so over burden that he hunched over onto the support of his twisted cane. All that could be seen of his face was a long stark white beard looming out of the darkness of his hood.

He startled to his feet sharply, surprised. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Both questions would be rather difficult to explain just yet,” the mysterious man said softly. “And time is running so fast as it is that we have none left to spare.” he sighed heavily. “But perhaps I must explain myself if I am to ever hope for an end to this all...I am Gaspar; a Guru of Time and where you are is the End of Time itself.”

“No,” he muttered, eyes widening. “...the Void.”

Gaspar nodded. “Precisely. And the Void is collapsing, Bartz Klauzer.”

“You know my name?” Bartz muttered. “But...right...‘Guru of Time’.”

The man laughed happily. “That attitude is precisely why you were chosen, I suspect. Your passion burns brighter than the stars young man, and I have seen many stars come and go. Soon enough though it will be night without stars if we do not act.”

Bartz glanced around the area, fear bubbling inside of him. He could still feel the pain he received from Ex-death and remember all of the horrible things he and his friends faced during their journeys. He felt his gut twist. What sort of fate was it to serve this purpose twice in a row? Surely he would lose more of those precious to him.

_So many lost, and for what?_

“Their deaths were not in vain, Bartz,” Gaspar said quietly. “You lost many, that much is so and is unexplainable in its pains, but they are never truly gone. They all live on around you, in every part of existence—in the wind, water, soil, fires and stars and more. One day you will see them all again.”

“If I die,” he muttered and this time the old man did not respond. “What about my friends? Will they have to face this again? And for what? It is obvious Ex-death can't be stopped if the threat is back. The Void will—”

“Ex-death is not the problem at hand.”

“What do you mean?”

Gaspar turned away and lifted his cane up towards the sky of stars. The little crystal at the top shone like the sun for half a moment before a wave appeared before their eyes. It was like a tear in a sheet; revealing what laid behind it.

Bartz gasped at what was happening before him. A rip in space was showing him a world that was not his own or the alternative world he had seen. Instead there were towers as high as the sky in every direction where hundreds of ships sped by. The land was a large sea of sand, and the skies such a crystal blue he couldn’t believe his eyes. As quickly as the images came they were replaced with another set; a tangled mess of iron buildings with flashing letters dangling off of them, and with them weird looking metal boxes running down pathways of black. Again and again the images changed, showing places with stark differences and alien concepts, until the Guru of Time coughed and staggered; the images vanished.

Gaspar leaned more of his weight onto his cane and turned slowly to Bartz. “I apologize...my powers are growing weaker and weaker every moment. It takes tremendous effort to show you what I have and to stay materialized to speak with you.”

“What is going on? What were those...those places?”

“They are other worlds,” Gaspar explained tiredly. “Worlds that are in as much danger as your own and if left unchecked, this danger will wipe all life out of existence. It will be as if nothing existed.”

Bartz looked back at the spot where the images had been. _Other worlds? There are more than two? If it isn’t Exdeath doing this though, then what is?_

“That is a good question,” Gaspar coughed again, harder. “I have spent unquantifiable amounts of time searching for the answer, but it lies behind a cloud I cannot see through. It is as if a veil had been placed before me, with the answers just in front of me yet impossible to grab. I can tell you that whoever it is they have created many temporal distortions in many different worlds, and created anomalies that do not fit the places they invaded. All I am certain of is that if this is unsettled the Void will swallow everything whole.”

“What is an ‘anomaly’ and ‘temporal distortion’?”

Gaspar leaned down and waved his staff over the surface of the ground. It shone for a moment before two perfect circles appeared. “Let me show you an example...each circle you see represents a world and in this case, they share a galaxy.” Bartz watched intensively. “If someone from a different galaxy comes along,” he drew two more circles above the others and separated them with a thick line. “and interferes with the existence of the previous two in some way to unravel its existence or to create trouble where it shouldn’t be—such as, for example, making magic on a world that hasn’t yet properly evolved to it— it is called a ‘metaphysical distortion’ and if that same someone decided to change time on that planet to cause problems it is called ‘temporal distortions’.”

“Are all changes to these planets and time considered a threat, then? Why?”

“It is the purpose of the changes that is the problem," he said quietly. "It is like trying to write and erase at the same time, Bartz Klauzer, can you do that? This threat is trying to create its own lives and events over an already existing planet by erasing the old in whatever way it can manage. It will mean the loss of life by the millions if done properly, and potentially the retaking of the Void if done incorrectly.”

He paled. “I see the problem here…what is this ‘someone’ trying to achieve though?”

Gaspar’s shoulders sagged. “I wish I knew, but I suspect it goes with the anomalies. I have felt a strange presence on several of these planets—shifts in time, to accurately describe it for some of these planets—some I recognize as beings called ‘Time Spawns’ while others…others I cannot begin to comprehend just yet. They may be time gates, living creatures, monsters, Time Spawns or something else entirely, I only know that they are radiating with some strange aura that I cannot ignore. I feel they are deeply connected to this mystery and must be sought out.”

“What are ‘Time Spawns’?”

“They are creatures living within the temporal void. They can rip through time and alter whatever they please if given the chance and if it suits their master’s agenda. From where these fiends originated I can only assume the Void itself, perhaps at one time as a means of defense or a means of recapturing existence.”

Bartz felt light headed. _And here I thought that just one more world was enough for a million life times...there are many more out there and in as much threat as the worlds I have come to know and love?_ Assuming he could do anything about this new threat, he asked, “What should I do?”

Gaspar lifted his cane again, this time he created a swirling light midair between them. “Not you alone, Bartz.”

“Then my friends must follow me?”

“No,” he said firmly, wheezing. “But others born on different worlds. In order to combat this new threat, the Crystals had manifested in core worlds closer to the Void and the Sealed Temple.”

“Where Enuo was taken by the Void?”

“Yes. The worlds closer to the Sealed Temple holds the Crystal ordained warriors you seek. You must gather them. They will help you restore balance to time and existence as you and your friends did before.”

“But how? And where would I even look to find them and where would I even bring them?”

“I can show you how to find them, to travel the worlds you need to,” as he spoke the light between them dropped to the icy ground like a rock, revealing a weird object. “This is the only key to your journey. It will take you where you need to go.”

Bartz leaned down to take the object; it glowed upon contact before reforming into a silver box like object. The Guru of Time reached over to lay a hand on his, and it was then that Bartz realized the man was old and feeble. “Take good care of this item, Bartz, for without it your journey will end and nothing will stand in the way of the Void retaking existence.”

He stuffed it into his tunic’s inner sleeve. “I will not lose it, Gaspar.”

“Good, good...now that brings me to the last part. Unfortunately I cannot see your path. It will reveal itself to you when all of you have gathered, but only then. I can simply guide you from here on out, so you must be careful and consider everything before you.” he coughed, turned to a door behind them that seemed to float on nothing. “Before you go, you must see my friend, Spekkio. I know that magic flows through your veins already, but he has many things to tell you before you leave and this,” he handed over a hefty leather bag. “must be guarded safely until you reach the first world, where you will meet a young man by the name of ‘Crono’. Make sure you bring him with you and hand that over to his friends to use. They must seek the Gates to use them, though.”

Bartz laid a hand over the spot where the Key was. “Will my friends be safe while I am gone?”

“For now your world is fine and your friends live, but for how long...I cannot answer. Distortion weaves through time in unsettling patterns that weaken me more and more, but I would suspect you do not have the luxury of time to meddle about freely. Your path must be walked briskly.” he turned away and pointed towards the far off direction, where the icy ground seemed to drop out of view. “Once you are through here, head further down. You will find the Gateway, the place where the Epoch sleeps. With the object I gave you, you will wake it and travel it to the needed worlds. Lastly, you must avoid any unnecessary anomalies along your path.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Crono will want to take everyone with him,” he explained. “And I am sure you will find many others on other worlds who will feel the same, but you must stress the importance of not creating any form of distortion or anomalies yourself. I have no idea how to proceed with this and it would be unwise to test the Time Stream by bringing through multiple people or changing things as we do not know how these anomalies are created. It means you must be ever careful with how you proceed and be careful withwho you bring, who you talk to...anything you do, until I have found the answers we need.”

Bartz took a deep breath. He knew his friends would understand, but he knew it would be difficult to get others to understand. He was ready to face it though.

“I will be careful, I promise.”

Gaspar nodded, tiredly. “That is good, Bartz Klauzer, very good. Go now and save existence. I...I must rest for a moment to regain my strength, so please excuse me.” Gaspar wobbled over to a single wooden bench under a lonely lantern and sat. His body trembled as he leaned into the pole of the lantern, where he presumingly fell asleep.

Bartz stuffed the leather bag into his pouch at his waist and turned for the floating door. The door was glowing purple faintly, and he swore he could hear cheerful whistling from the other side. He took a breath and pushed the door open. It opened into an empty black room closed off as a square by metal fencing. To Bartz’ astonishment a fat, white cat-like creature was dancing almost elegantly at the center of the room, whistling as it twirled on dainty chicken feet. It paused suddenly mid-twirl and two circle eyes locked onto him.

“The old man needs to stop letting in strays!” he said sharply, though there was a tone of laughter close behind it. “I can see in your eyes you do not need my trials, so why are you here?” in a second the creature was in front of him, staring up at him with big brown eyes. “Yes, yes, I smell magic in you, unexplainable large amounts of magic, yup!”

“What in the world are you? A moogle?”

He looked disgusted by the question. “A what?! A what?! Do I look like a moohgal?”

“Moogle,” he correctly softly, but the thing paid him no attention as he jumped about ten feet into the air in excitement.

“I’m Spekkio, you daft moon brain! The one and only master of war and magic! That ant over there starts to attack another colony? Yup, that was me! Hey, you two kids pushing each other for that piece of candy? Yup, I did that! Even the magic in you,” he poked Bartz’ chest, pushing him back into the closed door. “Is because of me, pal, now tell me if a ‘moohgal’ can do that, eh? Certainly not!”

Bartz laughed and rubbed at the sore spot on his chest. “Alright then, I'm sorry Spekkio.”

“You better be!” he barked before setting on his chicken feet. “You aren’t apart of our world and your presence here insults our four grand elements’ existence, so you best tell me why you are here!”

“Gaspar sent me here,” he answered. “I’m not sure why, but he said you had something to tell me before I go?”

“Oh,” Spekkio mumbled, twirling. “You are the warrior he’s been rambling about for decades.”

“Decades?” Bartz gasped.

Spekkio went on without explanation. “I can’t keep you from doin’ your thing in our universe, so I won’t even bother warning you from abusing all of those elements in that wiry body of yours...” he stopped twirling to balance on one foot, without so much as trembling. “and I know you will wan to abuse the elements in my good old friends, so I'll only warn you to be careful if you teach magic to someone else!”

 _Why would I be teaching magic?_ He wondered. _Why am I even listening to this thing?_ “Anything else I should worry about, o' master of war?” Spekkio glared at the attempt to rile him up before turning back to his twirls.

“Hmm,” he said, suddenly stopping. “I’ve been waiting decades to tell you this but now it seems my mind is an empty pool.” again he paused, thinking quietly. “Ah! Just be careful around the Mist and you will be fine! Well, that’s it!” the last part of his sentence was sung cheerfully.

Bartz was confused, and suddenly worried. “Wait, avoid the what—” Spekkio did another twirl and said, ‘ _now get out!_ ’ before he was tossed through the door. The door vanished in a pop of pale light. He landed on his back and grimaced from the sharp pain. He struggled up straight. _You little…_ “Bastard,” he muttered, standing.

“You are back quickly.” Gaspar said quietly. Bartz turned quickly, startled by the old man’s sudden appearance. “I expected Spekkio to teach you new levels of magic out of habit.” he grumbled but laughed a moment later. “Oh, time sure does fly at the End of Time.” when Bartz filled him in on what the thing said, he laughed. “So he is breaking his own rules...what a marvelous creature.”

“Annoying, more like,” Bartz said under his breath.

“Spekkio has governed over the laws of magic and combat for as long as time existed,” he said. “You must understand it will breed strange characters.” That much Bartz knew was true just from a few minutes with the thing. He supposed if he had to sit in that depressing room for all the time in existence, he would probably be far more annoying. “Now that you have all that you need, you must be on your way.” he turned and wobbled towards the Gate and Bartz followed quietly.

Inside the Gate, he saw a massive metal ship floating at the end of a small flight of stone steps. Nothing was holding it up, and it was covered in a thick layer of dust. As Gaspar fiddled with something, Bartz leaned down to run a hand over the smooth surface. He felt a tingle run up his arm and to his head, and quickly pulled his hand away. _It...it…._

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Gaspar asked quietly. “This is the Epoch; the single most important instrument that has ever been created.”

“It feels...alive.”

“It has the power of life itself powering it, Bartz, as it is the only way to break through the Time Streams unharmed. It is not like us though, living beings, but close enough I suppose.” he used his cane to tap the surface of the vehicle and slowly it started to turn on, thrumming. “The Epoch uses the key that I gave you to move, be sure to never lose it.”

The strange glass door opened and he looked at the odd interior with a new sense of reluctance. It was rather small inside, and depressing looking. The seats were torn and some parts of the glass was broken or cracked, while parts of the metal flooring was so thoroughly rusted any weight would break through it.

“It is too old for usage. If I try to fly this thing, I’ll die.”

Gaspar smiled fondly at him. “The key will guide you Bartz. I don’t think you could survive the air being ripped out of your lungs from some of those cracks otherwise.”

Bartz tried to offer a small laugh at the old man’s attempt at humor. He fumbled through his pocket for the key next and, uncertain on how to use it, tapped its end against the surface of the Epoch. It remained still and unchanged. _Okay..._ He jumped into the interior, gasped at the rock it gave the vessel and then carefully turned around to face the console and steering wheel. The key didn’t look so much like a key he was used to seeing. It was boxy, and silver, and small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. There clearly wasn’t anything normal about this ‘key’ at all.

Gaspar lifted his cane to point at the console. “There, near the steering wheel, is the compartment for the key. Place the object inside and hold onto something.” Bartz followed the direction the old man was pointing to and saw a hole just beside the steering wheel in the exact shape of the key.

He slowly pushed the box into the hole and was tossed to his backside as the vessel began to shake and shine like a thousand suns. The interior started to shift, taking on no shapes only a blinding whiteness, as the overall ship started to morph dramatically. The thrumming noise he had heard earlier was present, louder and enchanting in its tone, until finally it all settled and he was sitting in the middle of a huge vessel.

There were three rows of seats, capable of carrying quite a few people, and two steering wheels at the front, separated by a small screen and dial. The glass dome that he had used to enter the vessel was clear and unblemished and had a slight purple hue to it. The floor was polished silver and shone so brilliantly he could see his reflection perfectly.

He got to his feet quickly, awed. “What just happened?”

“I have used my time here since it was last used to reconstruct it,” he said. “I have adjusted it so that it can change form for convenience or need. I removed the weapons someone had attached to the front and replaced it with a more elegant solution as well.”

Bartz, having never seen something like it before, smiled as he ran a hand down the smooth walls. “It is amazing. I can feel it beneath me, like it is breathing.”

“Epoch will help you along your path as best as he can,” he explained. “Please take care of him.”

He nodded. “I will.” he went to one of the seats and touched the soft leather of it. “How do I pilot it?”

“It will engage automatic flight when you turn it on,” he explained, stepping back. “It will take you to your first destination, and from there Crono and his friends will know what to do.” Bartz thanked the old man, but he laughed it off. “It is I who should be thanking you Bartz, for your courage and generosity. You are about to embark on a journey that many could not even imagine in order to save all life...that deserves all of the gratitude in existence. But from here on out, it will be difficult, tiresome and painful—you must hold fast.” Bartz sat down and reached hesitantly for a button beside the steering wheel. He swallowed and pressed the button, fearful and yet excited. Gaspar laughed and gave him a quick wave. “Good luck and may the Crystals guide you safely down your path!”

The ship burst into life and down a rainbow at a speed that forced him against his seat. In his mind he saw his friends and the beautiful shine of the oceans and the sight of wind rushing through the grass, and then Lenna’s face.

_Wait for me Lenna!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a massive crossover, or at least I will try to make it massive by including various characters throughout the Final Fantasy series, their worlds, settings and the like as well as bringing in other SE/SS worlds like Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger. It should provide for a fun, action pack adventure for me to write, at least! There are and will be a few things I changed/will change though, like how the Epoch functions, so be warned! 
> 
> The endeavor will no doubt be difficult and very long, but I do have help from a friend (collaboration! yay!). I have thought about creating this crossover for a while now, so here is hoping someone out there enjoys the tale and wishes for more! I look forward to any and all feedback and suggestions, of course! Enjoy!
> 
> Credits for collaboration:
> 
> Although he refuses to sign up just yet, he is currently going by the name of "Styx" on other sites. I will bug him to sign up at some point but for now...thanks for the help Styx! I'm looking forward to continuing this project with you. :)
> 
> UPDATE; June 15th, 2017!
> 
> The logo was commissioned! It is not entirely visible on super dark themes though, so if you want to see it, keep on a light skin or a lighter version of your dark skins (I suggest the official site dark skin called "Reversi"!). This is the first part of commissions done for the story!


	2. Tempus edax rerum!

**Chapter I:**  
  
Tempus edax rerum!

Crono looked up at the sky, feeling a sudden change in the breeze that unsettled him greatly. The sky was blue and clear, and the ocean sparkled in the distance. He came to know this feeling of anxiety and unrest in his journey.

“Crono? What’s wrong?”

He turned to see Nadia standing at the end of the docks in her now common attire of gray puffy pants and tunic shirt. Two years had passed since they saved Time and the world, and to him she looked even more like a queen—even if she had started to distance herself from her princess status.

He signed and looked back at the sky, that strange feeling still bubbling within his chest. “It is probably nothing...”

“If it was nothing, it wouldn’t bother you so much,” she said pointedly, crossing her arms. “Tell me what it is, Crono, please.”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Something just doesn’t feel right.”

She followed his gaze to the sky and for a moment neither of them spoke or even moved, until she walked up and laid a hand on his shoulder. “If there is something to worry about...we will deal with it together, right?”

He smiled and reached up to lay a hand on hers. _Together?_ The thought terrified him.

~∞~

The city of Truce had seen substantial growth in the two years that followed his journey. The people had no clue of the danger that their world, that their existence, suffered and so continued onward peacefully and oblivious, building and expanding as far as they could.

In that time many people flooded to Truce from the Zenan cities and towns and even those across the seas to the east, where fantasies of what Truce was seemed undoubtedly real to their people. Every time a ship appeared carrying immigrants or visitors the Truce residents threw a new festival in Leene Square to celebrate them, even if most of them did not anticipate staying.

During these festivals, Crono would help his mother prepare her special dishes she brought to the Square and divvied out. It seemed a perfect opportunity to forget about that feeling he had gotten the other day, and so he pushed himself into the chore and tried to forget. Nadia had come and gone several times throughout the days of preparation, almost always accompanied by Guardia Knights—despite her disapproval—and helped wherever she could spare a hand. It brought attention where he felt didn’t need any more from the locals who still thought the sight of the princess was beyond rare and spectacular. It did make her happier though and that itself made him forget his worries just a little easier.

Lucca was around more than Nadia, but after their journey was over, she locked herself in her house and poured out invention after invention, and with each claiming they were useless. Crono grew worried for her long ago and was hoping this festival she would come out and celebrate with him and Nadia.

 _She barely even leaves her house_ , he thought as he racked the last of the leaves around northeastern part of the Square. The memories of the _Millennial Fair_ came to mind then and he stopped mid rack to look north, where he and Nadia (and later Lucca) had been transported through time for the first time. _She still thinks about it...about the Telepod and what she could have done differently._ He knew she felt guilt over so much, but he couldn’t understand why. None of it was her fault—Lavos was their fated foe before time itself was created. There was no avoiding it. Time was fixed, and would forever be fixed. What is meant to happen is meant to happen and nothing will alter it.

He sighed and wiped a hand over his brow, brushing fresh sweat away. One day he would be sure to make her understand it wasn’t her fault, though he knew _that_ journey required him to move beyond the nightmares that kept him in the past still.

“There you are, Crono.”

He turned to see Nadia hurrying down the stairs toward him. Her hair was braided down her back and she was wearing a short dress for the summer months, showing her delicate legs. It was a very different look than what she normally wore, so much so that he froze. She looked even prettier. He fumbled under her olive green eyes as she approached.

“I have been looking all over for you!” she crossed her arms behind her back, very serious in her annoyance, with whatever it was she was annoyed with. He suspected it was mostly due to the fact that she hadn’t known where he was. She was almost as curious as Lucca sometimes, or perhaps she just hated not knowing things like she did before. She looked at the rack in his hands, disgruntled. “Put that thing down and come dance with me, please!”

He sighed. There was no use in arguing. She never took ‘no’ as an answer when it came to what she wanted and he had a strong feeling this was also being forced on him to make him forget his worries from the other day. He sat the rack against a tower of boxes, filled with decorations and various supplies, and followed her up the stairs toward the southern square.

The area was nearly packed with workers and busy townsfolk, but there was a platform that was now empty save the few men practicing their tunes for the festival. Nadia climbed atop and looked through the crowd sharply for her would-be protectors. Pleased by the disappearing act she had performed, he could only assume, she motioned him up. When he was standing beside her, she turned to the men and asked them for a song. The fiddleman smiled brightly and motioned for his men to follow suit. The song was quick and full of thrills, just perfect for the traditional Truce style.

She faced him with a beautiful smile. “Are you going to dance with me or not, Crono?” He laughed and took her hand. They danced for a few minutes together by themselves until more and more of the townsfolk stopped their work to join. Soon enough the sound of their merriment mirrored the volume of the actual songs and Crono forgot just for a moment about his nightmares and fears and focused only on the incredible shade of green eyes Nadia possessed and the happy, girlish laughter she gave with each twirl and step.

For the longest moment they were lost in their dancing, to the songs, the cheering and the laughing. It was too good to last though, and as the song came to an end and they pulled to a stop in pants and huffs, he felt that fear come rushing back to him. He hid it behind a tired smile because he did not want to worry her any further.

She was kneeling, hands on her knees, breath shallow. Once she caught her breath, she laughed. “We haven’t danced like that in a long time. We should dance more, Crono.”

It was true, and he was grateful for it. He heard the tone easily and nodded. “We should...I’m sorry if I haven’t been myself lately Nadia.”

Her brows furrowed with worry. “You don’t have to apologize to me for it...” a moment of silence and then she smiled again. “We should see Lucca today and try to get her to come to the festival this weekend. I’m worried about her.”

“I’m worried too,” Crono said, finally regaining the last of his lost breath. He helped Nadia off the platform as the band started up their practice again and the civilians went back to work. “Taban says she seems distant lately, too.”

“Do you think...” she hesitated as they walked down the southern pathways to the stairs heading into town. “...that it has anything to do with Lavos?”

He grimaced at the name. When he thought of evil, of all the horrible things in the world, that name came to mind always. He shrugged. “I’m not sure...” he didn’t want to worry her with his suspicions as to Lucca’s guilts or personal fears. Not until he could know for sure. “She could just be busy. You know how she is with her inventions and studies.” or so he hoped.

She nodded in agreement. The town had more than enough incidents in relation to her tendency to create and create, even if it brought some sort of disaster to the city. “I think she just misses our friends...” her shoulders sagged in painful memories. “I miss our friends.”

Crono knew just how much their friends meant to Nadia. She had known no friends, no one else but her father, to love and then all of the sudden she had so many to care for only to watch them all be forced away through time and distance. In particular she seemed to take the loss of Ayla the hardest. Though he also guessed that Frog’s disappearance after their battle with Lavos, the uncertainty of his location or even if he was alive, was hurting her more than it hurt him or Lucca.

“I miss them too,” he said quietly. He wished he still had the Epoch so he could visit them. “Let’s go see if we can help Lucca.”

They left Leene Square quietly, both too lost in thought on their friends and worries to speak much at all about their plans of attack on Lucca, though Crono knew that if she refused he would just drag her out with Taban’s help.

The house, three stories tall and the perfect example of patchwork, still stood proudly at the center of the Floran Island. The tiles of the room shone like emeralds under the dazzling sun, as clean as if freshly put on. In the outer gardens various robots in varying degrees of completion were left all abandoned. Some of them closely resembled Gato, while others looked like some of the robots they had all encountered in the Future.

Taban was outside fixing a broke shutter on the second floor when they arrived at the door. He hadn’t noticed them until the doorbell, of which was so masterfully crafted by the Duo, rung. He glanced down and smiled brightly at them.

“Ah! Crono and Nadia! It’s good to—ah!” he nearly slipped out of his harness, which was dangling him off the third floor. “Wahoo...gotta be careful, huh? Say...you kids here to see Lucca?”

Crono lifted a hand to block out the burning sun so he could see him. “Yes, sir. Is she home?”

“She’s on the third floor, tinkering with some new contraption she won’t even tell _me_ about. You are welcome to try and get her to come out of the study, if you want.”

“Thank you, sir.” he opened the door for Nadia, who had busied herself looking about all of the new partial inventions Lucca had abandoned even within their home. Once they were inside, they went for the stairs.

“Has she ever created something she never actually finished?” Crono shook his head. He had never known her to do such a thing. If she couldn’t complete something it was only due to the lack of very rare materials Choras usually only carried.

The study door was left partially open, and from within they could hear hammering and a loud buzzing noise. Crono slowly pushed the door open and poked his head in. Lucca was at a bench at the other end of the room, hunched over it with comical sized goggles over her eyes as she drilled over a sheet of metal.

At her feet was a strange little robot cleaning up the debris or fallen materials. It was the source of the buzzing, though the longer they listened they thought it was humming! Just like the yard and the rest of the house, the study was littered with abandoned projects, though most were not even robots, but giant gates or doors. The room smelled heavily of oil and smoke, and was even hotter than it was outside. It was a mess, all of it.

Crono cleared his throat and knocked on the door. Nadia peaked over his shoulder into the room and at her friend. Lucca could not hear over the sound of her tools though, so when the little robot saw them and buzzed, she jumped out of her seat in shock.

“Besta! You nearly killed me!” Its orb-like eyes shined and then its head twirled in warning. “What? Oh, you are not a very good worker bot, are you?” she half meant it, though it was clearly a tease.

“Lucca?”

She turned sharply at the sound of her name and gasped at her visitors. “Crono! Nadia! What...what are you doing here?” she stood up and rubbed a dirty hand against her sweaty brow, smearing it with soot or oil.

Crono looked around the room. “What have you been doing these last few weeks? Creating a robot army?”

She offered them a small smile. “I was just tinkering, that’s all. What brought you two here?”

Nadia moved beyond Crono quickly. “We would like you to come to the festival this weekend...with us.”

Lucca’s pale teal eyes looked like they went a thousand miles away. “This weekend?” she repeated quietly to herself before looking back at her inventions.

Sensing that there was an objection nearby, Crono said, “You don’t have to stay for long...just an hour or two? We haven’t seen much of you lately, and you don’t leave your house much at all. We are worried, that’s all.”

Lucca sighed. “What’s there to worry about?”

Nadia frowned. “Everything. Friends worry for each other, even if it seems silly.” she looked at Besta rolling across the floor cleaning up its master’s unmanaged mess. “What are you trying to build, anyway?”

When she turned for the window, shoulders slumped, Crono knew something was wrong and she was not going to tell them, not without a fight. “Lucca? Why are you building all of this? You can tell us.”

“You would think I am crazy,” she muttered under her breath.

“We would never,” Nadia promised, reaching over to take her friend’s hand. “Please, tell us what is wrong.”

There was a moment of silence none of them wanted to object to. It was easier to deal with things when you had a moment to think, to feel whatever it was without it being violated by the distraction of words or arguments or well intentions. This was one of those moments, he knew, so he waited patiently for her. Finally she turned to a table by the window to retrieve a large remote.

“Around a year ago I was watching the night sky with papa,” she begun, pressing a circle button on the remote. The wall shook and opened out onto a large patio extending over the first and second floor and nearly twenty feet out towards the ocean. “It was normal, or so I thought. He dozed off after we went through our normal routine, but I was wide awake so I continued through the watch.” she paused and then motioned for them to follow her out onto the patio. “At first I thought it was a trick of light, or maybe a broken telescope, but the longer I looked the more I knew it was not a mistake.”

“What was it?” Nadia prompted.

“It would be easier to show you,” she said, opening a large metal box beside her telescope. She pulled out sheets of paper double the size of average sheets with printed patterns of the stars they saw in the night sky. She knelt and spread the sheet over the smooth wood of the patio and dropped a finger on a section to the top left. It was a small collection of closely knitted stars. “Look closely and tell me what you see.”

Crono and Nadia leaned closer to get a better look. To his eyes he saw the same patterns on the paper he did in the sky at night, it looked absolutely normal. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when his eyes finally caught sight of something out of the ordinary. His eyes widened and at the same time Nadia saw it too.

There was a very distinct blotch of something dark streaming through the pattern of stars and in the next few sheets it moved too quickly to be anything they normally saw in the night sky, like meteors or shooting stars.

“What is it?” Nadia asked.

Lucca shrugged. “I do not know. I kept watch for the next month and,” she flipped the sheets and the blotch moved further and further out of the stars. “it just kept moving, and not in any natural order either, it is...it is...”

“Intelligent movement?” Crono asked, looking up from the paper at his quirky friend. She nodded.

“It has since then moved from here,” she traced her finger to the spot nearer the middle of the latest sheet. “to here and is now showing its course is headed...”

“Headed…?” Nadia pressed, almost fearfully.

Crono knew what she was going to say. It was obvious now why Lucca had locked herself up in her study and built whatever it was she was building. She was preparing for whatever it was because it was heading straight for them.

“For us,” she answered softly. “I last checked its position two weeks ago and it was near the here.” she pointed to a place beyond their moon.

“It is Lavos,” Crono said quietly, eyes watching the blotch. His heart felt unbelievably heavy and he knew he had paled.

Nadia shook her head. “It can’t be! We destroyed it Crono!”

“Maybe there are more where Lavos came from,” Lucca suggested. “It came from someplace, at least. It didn’t just _appear_. Perhaps there is a planet out there where many more of those things live.”

“Or maybe this isn’t the same thing,” she challenged. “If it were Lavos we would know...wouldn’t we?”

“We need to prepare either way,” Crono said, standing, thankful for the fact that his legs carried him despite the weakness he felt. Without the Guru of Time or the Epoch, he doubted they would be able to handle Lavos again or its spawn. “Lucca, do you know when it will arrive?”

“ _If_ it’ll arrive,” she corrected, but shook her head. “The distances it travels is inconsistent. It took a month for it to reach the moon where it took only half that to get to the place it was before that, and now it just sits waiting beyond the moon.”

“What do we do then?” Nadia asked, turning her olive green eyes to Crono, as did Lucca. He felt uneasy being the leader once again. They had gotten through their battle with the destroyer of all life by extreme luck...would they find that luck again? Would he survive this time? What’s more, would the last of his friends survive this time?

He cleared his throat. “We need to start by warning the mayor and your father about the impending danger, beyond that...”

“We can only hope?” Lucca finished.

He simply nodded. “The mayor may not cancel the festival though, which means we have to be there in case something happens.”

Lucca smiled. It was forced. “If by any luck it won’t be like the _Millennial Fair_.” despite the mood, Nadia giggled.

“With any luck,” she agreed.

Crono watched them for a moment as he recalled the uneasy feeling he had days prior. He had been right—something wasn’t right and now he knew the danger was on them all again.

They noticed his silence and distanced themselves from the shallow attempts at making the situation better. “Crono…?”

He didn’t want to lose them, not anyone. He looked at them squarely. “We will be fine. Lavos or not, nothing will harm our world, not while I stand to stop it.”

Nadia reached for his hand. “You aren’t alone in this. We’ll stop it _together_ , remember?” her eyes told him not to forget their talk.

Lucca lifted her glasses. “And maybe I will have something to answer this threat! Now...where did Besta go? Oh you dingy little robot! Where are you now?” she went searching through the mess of her study with exaggerated anger.

Crono looked up towards the sky and the moon visible in the late morning. _We’ll do this together…_ he thought in agreement.

~∞~

The weekend arrived quicker than any of them would have liked. They had tried to convince the mayor to cancel the festival and when he disregarded their worries they had tried Nadia’s father, but he was certain things were fine and could not get Truce to cancel based on suspicions alone. He was truly apologetic for it, but could not offer them a way out short of making a sure threat to the city themselves, which obviously was out of the question.

In answer to their worry though Artur had sent several men to the city ahead of the festival to help with any threat that might appear. He had no idea how insignificant the men would be against the foe they knew was heading for them. If it wasn’t Lavos it was going to be of equal danger and normal knights would have no hope against it.

Without any reasonable defense outside of their own skills, he went about making supplies from scratch. His potions were more potent than store bought bottles, as he had learned sometime in his travels to make them himself, and his elixirs provided an extra boost of energy in dire situations where they had expended their energies in desperation.

He found his katana over the fireplace, where he had left it after their journey concluded. The blade shone like liquid silver, as if forever polished, and bore a brilliant blue dragon engraving on the steel itself. He lifted it off the hooks carefully and unsheathed it. It hissed out of its protective shell and sparkled under the sunlight from the open windows.

The weight of it was strangely comforting in his hands. He took a stance with it, remembering it all with reluctance, and then did several agile moves with it. Pleased with the weight and his muscle memory, he sheathed it and strung it to his belt as he did years ago.

When the bells chimed in the city, marking the start of the festival, Crono took a deep breath and went out to look for Nadia and Lucca among the crowds. The streets were beyond packed with the merchants from the other continents that came around annually, the immigrants, visitors and the townsfolk, so it made movement even more difficult.

The knights Artur had given them were seen walking around the village cautiously. It was with two of them that he had finally bumped into Nadia. She was busy chiding the two men for following her about after she requested they did not. They looked flushed and apologetic, but reluctant to actually do what was requested of them.

Once she finally sent them away, promising she had a protective detail, she turned to Crono with a tired sigh. “I don’t know what father was thinking sending them...we should hurry along. Lucca is at the Square and told me to get you quickly.”

“Did something happen?” he asked as he followed her through the city. The locals cleared the way for her quickly, some do so nervously. She paid it none of her attention though, or tried her best not to.

“She said something about defenses,” she answered. “She was carrying something, too.”

Deciding it was best to wait instead of guessing, he let the discussion go and listened to Nadia as she talked about the things she thought the object in space was. She was determined that it wasn’t Lavos or any offspring. She had a point that it couldn’t be it since they had defeated it, but they had traveled time and successfully altered it... _anything_ was possible.

“I guess we will know soon enough,” she finally muttered quietly, finally showing her worry. Leene Square was finally within view when they stopped to allow a chain of carts to go by. “No matter what happens we’ll be together for it, right?”

That was the one thing he knew he could promise her. “I promise.” _we won’t be a part ever again_.

“There you two are!” a sharp voice cut through the chatter of the crowd and activities. Lucca rushed down the stairs toward them, face slightly red from the heat and her annoyance. “Crono, I need your help! Ah, good, you brought your katana and your crossbow, good, good! Now follow me _quickly_!”

She ushered them up the stairs. “I kept an eye out on the sky last night and you won’t believe it but...” she paused to glance back at them and then whispered, “It disappeared out of view!”

“So it is gone?” She was right, he did not believe it! He had seen it with his own eyes. How could it have just vanished? “Where did it go?”

Lucca shook her head. “Oh, it didn’t go anywhere.”

“I don’t understand,” Nadia pouted.

“It is definitely still there!” she said with a scoff. “Or was, I mean. Whatever it is it did not count on the great Lucca Ashtear watching it carefully, I bet! The nerve of the thing trying to hide itself from prying eyes! The nerve!” she lifted her glasses with a finger back comfortably over the bridge of her nose.

“It hid itself?” Crono asked.

“Yes! It went behind the moon! I only know because I caught a glimpse of its movement through the sheets I’ve been printing. Good thing, too, because I suspect by now it has already left the safety of the moon.”

“Is this what you wanted with Crono?” Nadia’s question caused her to gasp. She had completely forgotten about that! She turned sharply to her red-headed friend and grabbed his arm.

“That’s right! Come here, come here, we have to start!”

“Start what?” his question was ignored as he was dragged up the stairs towards the north-western part of the Square, where he had fought Gato during the _Millennial Fair_ nearly four years ago. Nadia was chasing after them, huffing and puffing through her questions that Lucca did not answer.

Standing at the center of the cut off section was Gato...or what looked like Gato. The thing was three times bigger, and made of blue and black armor. It looked almost identical to the Cybots they encountered in the Black Omen, only they looked far more humanoid and agile. Its armed served as canons and its back held a heavy metal box with two pipes hanging out of it.

Lucca hurried in front of it. “Crono, Nadia....meet Bast!” she stretched her arms out wide with an even greater smile, clearly expecting something from her new robot, but it just stood there. She took a second to turn and smack the robot’s chest. “Bast! Wake up!”

With the command, the eyes lit up, revealing pale teal eyes. Steam rushed out of the pipes on its back and then its limbs started to oil up and move more freely. A buzz came and went, and then its voice started out its greeting protocols.

“Greetings friends, I am Bast. How may I serve you?”

Lucca smiled. “His personality matrix needs more time to find itself, but he is even more advanced than Gato and the Cybots, I promise it! Oh! Oh! _And_ he’s got some serious firepower. I’m hoping he can help us if anything happens.”

Nadia nervously smiled as she recalled the Cybots and the robots they faced in the Future. “It won’t attack us, will it?”

Lucca looked back at Bast. “No, not on purpose at least.” As expected that answer did not satisfy her worries. She took a few steps back. “He’s equipped with what I call ‘motion sensors’. If he fires a rocket, it’ll follow the target until it hits!” she smashed a greasy fist onto her palm with a loud ‘ _bam_ ’.

He knew better than to ask her if she tested the robot out first, so he smiled. “I’m sure Bast will give us plenty of help.”

“Is there a service I am required for?” the robot asked, its glass teeth shining with each word. Lucca snorted as she faced her creation.

“Bast, what did we discuss this morning?” she crossed her arms as he searched his memory cores for the discussion. His eyes lit up in recollection.

“I must assist in the defense of Leene Square.”

“That’s it, but only if you _want_ to! You _do_ want to, right Bast?”

“Yes, I wish to assist you and your friends, Lucca.” the giant blue robot replied monotonously, though he did offer them a respective bow, much like a knight to his liege. Nadia aww’d at the display.

“He’s wonderful, Lucca!” she cooed, rushing over to take the robot’s arm in a hug of admiration.

Crono had to agree. This robot was clearly exceptionally advanced. Suddenly his thoughts went to Robo and the Future, and he looked at Lucca in confusion and amazement. _Is it because of Lucca’s inventions that our world will look the way it does in 2300 A.D?_ He couldn’t help but think that the resemblance between Bast, Robo and his companions, and even the Cybots, was _extremely_ uncanny.

“....can you help me set up Bast’s power source?”

Crono awoke from his thoughts and looked at her. “What?” once she repeated herself, he nodded. He waited for Bast to turn around, and for Nadia to hurry away. Once Bast revealed his power cell, a giant block just above the exposed pipes, and then extended one hand toward him. He thought of the inner strength Spekkio taught them to utilize and then thought of his element. His mind eye saw a bolt of lightning through a clear summer night sky and then he concentrate on the power cell and released the spell.

The sound of it crashing into the cell was much more frightening than the actual spell, and caused the ground to tremble just enough to jostle the party and scare the birds from the trees. The power cell hissed before booting up, and then Bast’s frame started to shift, growing slimmer and more agile than his standby mode, until he stood a foot and a half over the party. He now seemed more metallic human than robot.

His eyes shined. “Bsssst,” his head almost turned completely. “A.M.T.O Weapon Mode Engaged. Tracking all spatial movement.” steam rushed out of his back and he looked up, towards the sky. “Commencing search of object. Time of completion: unknown.”

Lucca grinned, quite proud of herself. “Once he has completed his search, we should be plenty prepared for that thing’s arrival.”

Crono looked at the robot, unsure. “What is he going to do when it arrives though?”

She looked at her dear friend and giggled. “Crono, he’s a robot. If we could barely beat Lavos, I doubt he could beat whatever it is heading for us.”

“Then why did you bring him?” he asked, exasperated.

“He will provide us with assistance, of course,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “For now while he—” she was interrupted by Bast’s sudden buzzing noise. The robot’s eyes started to flash red and steam gushed out of his back in loud cries.

“Warning! Warning! Warning! The object has breached the atmosphere. Estimated time and location of impact: twenty minutes, north-eastern Truce Forest.”

Lucca gasped and hurried over to interpret the data flashing across Bast’s chest, which had flipped inside out into a screen, much like the kind they saw shattered in the Future in all of the Labs. Nadia looked to the sky and gave a sharp cry of surprise.

Crono, confused by all of the sudden warnings, turned to see what the matter was and gaped at what appeared in the sky; an orb of rock, as if a coal from a great dying fire, hurdled towards them at immense speed. Suddenly it started crumbling apart and smaller pieces starting raining down at even greater speeds.

Gathering up his wits, he charged towards Lucca and took her to the ground just as a piece of the fiery orb soared over head. The heat of it was so intense it turn the metal plating on Bast’s head turned bright red and then burst into the ground with so much force it threw them all to their backs and jostled the robot to its metal knees.

For several long moments dirt and stone rained down upon them and their ears buzzed so loudly they could not even hear the other pieces of the space rock crashing all around them, sending the poor citizens of Truce running in terrified screams. The sky started to turn red as the bigger space rock came closer and closer.

Crono, still dazed, struggled to his knees to survey the damage and look for Nadia. The air was hot and hazy, so he could not see much. Bast was getting to his legs though, unfazed by the change in the air or the damage to his head.

It was hard to concentrate, but he knew he had to find Nadia. He helped Lucca to her feet, who was mouthing something to him. _Why isn’t she talking?_ He opened his mouth to reply but found that he could not hear! He growled, took Lucca by the shoulders and pointed to himself and then out into the hazy area around him. He knew she could not hear, but he screamed it anyways.

“Nadia! I need to look for Nadia!” Lucca, whether she understood or not, rubbed dirt from off her nose and scurried over to Bast. She apparently had something to do herself anyway so he got to his legs, stumbled a foot or so, before hurrying into the dense cloud of steam and dust.

 _Where is she? Where is she?_ He thought, wincing as pebbles and rocks rained down atop his head and bruised body. He tripped over something and went face first into the ground. He swore against the pain and lifted himself up to inspect what he had tripped over.

Horror tore through him. It was the body of a child, a girl no older than seven maybe. He stumbled away, choked with grief as he looked around and saw many more victims. _No...no, no, no! Nadia!_ He got his feet once more and ran through the haze. “Nadia!” he screamed, hoping beyond else that she could hear. “Nadia!”

The ground suddenly shook and threw him to his knees. Another impact jostled him a foot or so off the ground before shaking the ground as if the planet itself quaked. When it finally stopped, he looked up into the haze, panting and drenched in sweat. Something was walking toward him through the steam and dust.

The silhouette was immense and was clearly not a human or a mystic he had ever seen before. There was an aura around this being that made him sick to his stomach. He reached for his sword as it finally drew free of cover and stood before him. It was a monstrosity he had never seen before and seemed to glow from the inside, through pale purple skin. It had several large antlers and bony wings, complete with a red dress that barely managed to conceal long, twisted legs of purple bone.

He relaxed his grip on his sword and readied himself for a fight. _This thing must be the thing from space...it has to be it!_ The grotesque creature did not seem to be bothered by his presence for it approached him with pale yellow eyes locked onto something behind him.

That’s when he noticed something limp in its giant hands and his heart stopped. It was Nadia! Tears burned in his eyes. This couldn’t be happening! Why had this thing taken her life instead of his? For what was he supposed to live for now that she was gone from this world? He could not even travel back in time to save her as she had done for him, now that the Epoch was long since gone and they had lost contact with the Guru of Time.

A fury swept through him he hadn’t ever felt before and he charged the monstrous creature. He slashed at its legs, creating a lightning aftershock after his blade, but the thing lifted a hand and something stopped him from moving and his attack midair. His eyes widened. _What...what is this?!_ Its pale eyes sought him out and a wicked smile appeared over its face, and with a flick of its hands, he was sent flying through the dust.

It felt like it had only been a second until he crashed into something hard and laid unable to move. He opened his eyes, squinting through blood and pushing through what he knew were a few broken ribs, as the creature appeared through the dust after him, floating along with Nadia in its hands.

 _Nadia…_ He closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate as the monster lifted a hand to deal with him. _I’m sorry._ He felt a rush of cold air over his body and could finally hear again, catching the sound of something above him. He opened his eyes, trembling, and saw a long, angular metal boat above him that glistened under the sun. The dust had been dispersed and the air was no longer unbearably hot. _But...but how?_

The creature looked at it angrily and reached out to smack it out of the air, but the thing vibrated in place and seemingly disappeared, causing the monster’s hand to hit air. A growl that shook the ground came from its parted mouth and it swirled around suddenly, slinging its arm angrily into the air where it thought the metal boat had appeared.

Again the creature turned and swung madly into the air, at nothing, missing that the metal boat popped out of thing air directly above it. Something shined like the sun against its surface and a gush of icy cold air raced down the back of the monster and across the floor, leaving a sheet of ice in its wake. The monster slipped and tumbled to its bony knees, dropping Nadia onto the ice as if she were no more a toy it lost interest in.

Crono gasped and tried to lift himself to get to her but collapsed back onto the ground. That’s when he saw something standing on the flat surface of the metal boat. In the light of the blazing sun, it looked like a human, but when it leapt gracefully off the boat and onto the ground, a good fifty foot drop, Crono could not see how it could be human.

 _I have to get up_ , he told himself, forcing all of his energy into his legs. His ribs seemed to break further under the movement but he pressed on slowly toward Nadia’s limp body. If he had to give his life up to save hers, it would be a price he would be willing to pay.

The creature was lifting itself by the time he reached her and by that time Crono saw that someone was standing over Nadia with a sword drawn and expression as cool and calm as the gentle ocean. The mysterious man glanced over at him and smiled. “We need to talk.” the monster finally saw him and smashed its fist down on him and Nadia, but the mysterious man was holding his hand up toward the creature, creating a bubble of white and pale purple to protect him and Nadia.

_What kind of magic element is that?!_

The monster grew impatient and started pounding on the shield. The man frowned and held a hand up in front of his face, half straight, and closed his eyes. He started chanting quietly to himself and once again the air became hot, but unlike earlier this heat was pleasant, refreshing even. Out from the ground fire started to break free just behind him yet the man remained calm, eyes closed and chanting.

 _Fire magic_ , he realized, watching in complete awe as the fire started to pool behind the man’s back and then in a burst of light the fire took shape into a giant bird made of fire itself. It cawed into the wind and opened its wings, startling the monster to its presence. The creature stopped its relentless pounding on the shield and reached over the white-purple bubble to grab at the fire bird and howled painfully when its hand caught on fire. It stumbled back, waving its hand around just as the bird took to the sky, opening its wings wider and wider until they seemed to encompass the entirety of the sky.

Crono felt a surge of energy rush through him and his ribs forcefully push back. It was painful and caused him to cry out, but when the rush was over, he did not feel weak nor incapable of movement. He looked up and saw the energy cover Nadia and then extend out in thunderous cry of a thousand birds towards the monster. The force of the impact was so great it forced the creature back several feet before finally tossing it onto its back and consuming it in the same fire that had ripped out of the ground. The fire started to shift colors, until it looked like a shimmering rainbow, and then finally in an explosion of light the fiery bird and the monster were gone.

The white-purple bubble popped into a spray of clear water as the man released his chant and leaned down to inspect the girl. Crono hurried over and nearly shoved the mysterious stranger out of the way. He lifted Nadia and leaned her against his legs, brushing loose hair from her face.

“Nadia? Nadia, can you hear me?”

“She’ll be fine,” the man said, a little cheerfully. “In the mean time—”

“Crono!”

The two men sought out the voice. Running toward them, with Bast, was Lucca. Her forehead was cut and blood ran down the side of her face uncontested, but she didn’t seem to mind one bit at all. She skidded to a stop before them, rested her hands on her knees, and took several huge breaths as Bast bowed to Crono.

“Crono, allow me to interpret my Lady’s message.” as he spoke, Lucca waved him off breathlessly, as if meaning to say ‘ _you don’t need to!_ ’ but proving otherwise. “Several pieces of the rock hit all around the Square and have released odd mystics and the largest rock has not yet hit, but is expected to make impact in less than eleven minutes.”

“What in the world is that thing?” the mysterious man gasped, cranking his head up to look into the robot’s eyes. “Is that all armor?! How tall are you?”

“I am Bast, E.D.O MKII, and,” his eyes flashed. “I believe I stand eleven feet, four inches at my tallest, sir.” the mysterious man laughed.

“You are a giant! Say, Bast,” He rubbed at his nose. “Do you happen to know where a that thing in the sky will land?”

Crono gritted his teeth angrily. “Who are you?!”

The man faced him with a frown. “Oh, right, I forgot. I’m Bartz Klauzer and you are Crono, right?” he blinked at the stranger.

“How do you know Crono?” Lucca managed to ask through short breaths.

“That can be explained later, don’t you think? That thing is going to crash at any minute now and Crono here,” he gestured to him. “needs to follow me pronto. We have to deal with the Time Spawn immediately.”

“The what?”

“No time, I said!” he said, pulling a small device out of a pocket of his jerkin. “If that giant there is right, it will hit us in...how long?” he faced Bast.

“That will be nine and a half minutes now, sir.”

“Too close!” he shouted, pressing a button on the device. The weird metal boat from earlier popped into view overhead. “Come on Crono!”

“What about the other mystics here?!”

“They want the girl,” Bartz said. “So bring her and the bastards will follow!” the boat soon hovered close enough to the ground that the stranger could climb up a ladder embedded into the side. Crono looked down at Nadia’s face, where dried blood was the only indication she had been injured.

“How can I trust you?” he asked the stranger, who paused to glance back at him.

“That’s a good question,” he muttered. “But if you have the time to ask that, we have already lost.”

Crono held Nadia closer to him, conflicted on what to do. _If he hadn’t been here Nadia would be dead and I…_ he shook his head. _What do I do?_

Lucca reached over to touch his shoulder, aware of just how confused he was. “Crono,” she whispered. “I think you need to trust him. We don’t have any other choice. You need to go with him...”

He lifted Nadia with him. “Lucca...please, find my mother and—”

She interrupted him with a laugh. “You don’t have to ask me Crono, now go! Hurry!”

The stranger, Bartz, helped to lift Nadia up into the metal boat and then helped him in before sitting in the front and pressing all sorts of buttons until the boat’s roof closed and it sped away. Crono swore at the speed of it and held Nadia close to him against the wall so that they did not roll about or hurt themselves. His eyes went to the window to see the damage done to Lenne Square but all he could see was a stream of white, gray and blue all around them.

He recognized it immediately. The colors were different, but there was no mistaking it. _This metal boat is the Epoch!_ He thought, looking over at the stranger who was handling the strange version of the Epoch with extreme clumsiness and furrowed brows. _But_ when _is he taking us?_ Suddenly they pulled out of the Time Stream and he jostled forward, almost losing his hold on Nadia.

They were now descending over the large ocean of trees north of Lenne Square and for a moment Crono thought the stranger had taken them back in Time, but when he looked further south he could see that the Square was still damaged and there was smoking rising everywhere.

_I don’t understand...if this is the Epoch, why not take us to before the attack?_

Bartz stood, pushed the steering wheel away and faced him. “We have to move. The Time Spawn is going to want her,” he pointed to Nadia. “So leave her aboard and she can stay floating above us safely. That way the Time Spawn will think she’s on the ground with us, and won’t run about ruining your world.”

“Wait,” Crono snapped, carefully setting Nadia against the cool plating of the interior, before standing. “Why do you have the Epoch? How do you know my name? Are you from the Future? Did Gaspar send you?”

Bartz smiled in such a way it clearly showed his amusement in something. “That’s a lot of questions Crono and I’ll answer them all as soon as we deal with this thing, okay? So hurry it up!” he opened a hatch on the floor and was adjusting the ties of his belt and clothes. He was going to jump!

“Wait, don’t—” but it was too late, Bartz had jumped through the hall. He ran over and looked through the opening but could not see the stranger. He swore, glanced back at Nadia and then jumped through the opening with a loud cry.

He was rapidly descending towards the forest and shouted in surprise, kicking his legs and waving his arms around to try and slow himself down, as foolish as he knew it was. Just when he was about to crash into the canopy something covered him in purple light and slowly put him on his feet right beside Bartz on the ground.

His head was racing, and his stomach was churning. He blanched and went over to a small portion of bushes to throw up. Bartz laughed happily. “I did that the first few times too, but unfortunately for you, you have to adjust quicker.” and then he looked up at the sky and frowned. “It is here, get ready!”

Without much more of a warning, something crashed into the forest north of them. The impact created a shock wave that tore the trees down and shredded others, but before it could reach them and decimate them, Bartz created another one of those bubbles that dispelled the wave as it struck them.

Crono was so awed he hadn’t noticed the monster running toward them. It was just like the last, only it was even taller and wore what looked like the skin of a black lion over its back. It struck the bubble, which caused the ground to shake once more, but couldn’t break it.

Sweat beaded on the stranger’s forehead. “Listen Crono! This thing is what’s called an ‘Elder Spawn’! It is stronger than the one you faced and leads the others! If we take this one down the others should cease to exist.”

Finally catching his nerve, and feeling the motion sickness leave him, he tore his sword out of its scabbard and took a stance. The Elder Spawn smashed a fist into the ground before them, jolting them forward, but Bartz jumped to the side and threw a shard of ice at the beast, knocking it slightly off balance.

Crono barely had the time to register the fact that Bartz had now shown the capability of using two elements plus a type he had never seen before. He slashed at the left ankle of the beast, leaving his lightning trail behind. In a flash, the trail exploded like a bomb and the thing howled painfully. It tried to swat him away like a bothersome fly but missed as Bartz unleashed a wave of water at him.

Another element.

The monster fell to its knees, yet did not stop its assault. It swung one arm out, like a propeller, in an effort to tag them both. Bartz immediately dropped to his back to avoid the hit, while Crono leapt gracefully up and over the arm, landing behind the creature.

 _Now’s my chance!_ He charged forward and climbed the bony ridges of its wings up its back, even as the monster jumped to its feet in protest and begun thrashing about in desperation to free itself from its aggressor.

Bartz had shouted something but Crono did not hear it. The only thing that was audible to him was the blood pounding in his ears and the sound of Nadia’s gentle breathing as she laid beside him on hot evenings on the Truce beaches. He would not miss his chance to hear her or see her again and if that required him to give this fight his all he would do it!

He dug his sword into the vertebrae of the monster and then placed one palm on the pommel and channeled all of his magic into the strike. He pictured the worst storm he had ever seen in his life, when he was just a boy. His mother had tended to his fears and assured him that the storm would pass over its anger, and leave a new world behind.

The bolts that he now saw in his head were exaggerated, but the pulse of life and power that rushed through him was immense and real. In a flash that seemed to last generations, he was tossed off the monster’s back as a single bolt of lighting came down from the heavens and struck its target.

The lighting tore through the vertebrae and struck straight through to the ground, causing the monster to explode out into a million black sparkles.

Crono was still rolling across the ground of the forest, bouncing painfully off rocks and hard ground, until finally he came to rest in a pool of damp leaves where a pair of mystics had been eating. They took off immediately with shouts of surprise.

His ribs were once again broke, and he was sure his right arm was as well. “Damn it,” he muttered painfully. “That’s twice today.”

“That was incredible!”

He saw Bartz charging through the bushes in front of him, laughing. “I haven’t seen anyone do so well in a battle that only used one type of magic, though that did look like magic I wouldn’t call it that.”

Crono struggled up straight, grimacing at the pain. “It was lightning magic,” he explained. “One of the four great elements.”

“Ah...I guess this world handles magic differently then,” he mumbled. “Something seemed off about it.” and then recalling that he saw Crono use it earlier, he asked, “Is that the only one you can do?” he leaned down to help his new ally up, carefully.

The red-headed boy grimaced once again at the change of weight. “I can only use light magic, but you,” he recalled the elements he had used masterfully. “you used so many so quickly. How did you manage something like that? Did Spekkio teach you?”

“That fat cat-thing?” Bartz asked, thinking back to the annoying thing that had attacked him in a verbal fit at his refusal for magic training. He laughed. “No. I learned magic from spells I bought or learned from crystals, but that’s something that is better left explained _after_ I have healed you, so let me...” he reached into his pocket again and retrieved the same device, which he promptly pressed the button to. “...there! Now it should be here any...there it is! Come on, don’t pass out on me just yet Crono.” he hefted the youngling up and waited for Epoch to descend low enough.

The last thing Crono remembered seeing was the glass door sliding open for them, and then he blacked out.

~∞~

 He was standing in the middle of a field of blackness. He could not see anything, hear anything or feel anything, yet his eyes locked onto the direction in front of him as if he _could_ see and hear something approaching him.

Dread filled him, as it had when he saw the Time Spawn attack and when he saw it take Nadia, but nothing was there. He felt choked. _Move!_ He screamed at himself, but his feet were plastered thick into the darkness below him, refusing his commands. Move! Suddenly he was moving though his legs were still. The black rushed beyond him like when he rode in the Epoch, only now he could hear a thousand thousand different screams in many different languages and his eyes burned from an orb of light ahead of him.

The light swallowed him hole and now he was floating over a sea so crystal clear he could see far into its depth. _What...what is this? What’s going on?_ As if reading his thoughts, his body dove down into the watery depths. He gasped and tried to collect breath to hold but ran out within seconds. He took a mouthful of water and sputtered, only then realizing he could still breathe.

He forced his eyes shut. _It is a nightmare! A nightmare!_

“Crono?” a voice whispered to him. _Nadia? No!_ He kept his eyes closed. That was not Nadia’s voice, he knew it! But who else was it? It was not Lucca, or Ayla, or anyone woman he knew. He would not open his eyes. “I need your help.” the voice whispered. “Please...we _all_ need your help.”

~∞~

 He startled awake, drenched in sweat and shivering. He was in his room, and the window was open to let in the sunshine and the ocean breeze. His cats were all resting on his bed, or on the bookshelf above him.

 _What was that? It...it felt so real._ Just recalling the voice sent chills down in spine, though he wasn’t sure it was out of fear.

And then the memories of what had transpired rushed back to him and he tore the blankets off of him. He was thoroughly healed again, and this time he was certain it was Nadia that had healed him. He could never forget her touch, magical or not. It meant she was alright. Gratitude and relief made tears burn in his eyes but he stubbornly knuckled them away to change and head down stairs.

He moved delicately down the stairs, still nervous he would not see the faces of his friends, but as soon as the main room came into view, he saw Lucca fixing something on Bast, his mother carrying a tray of tea and cookies, the stranger who traveled with Epoch and… his eyes widened and he rushed down the stairs to take Nadia into his arms and squeeze her close to him.

“You’re okay,” he whispered into her ear as the others turned their eyes away, though his mother smiled fondly at the image before setting the tray down on the table. She wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in the crook of his neck.

“I’m okay, Crono,” she pulled away. “I’m worried about you though...you shouldn’t be up yet.”

“I agree with her,” Lucca cut in sharply, arms crossed as they usually were when she was upset in any way. “Her curatives aren’t godsends, you know, and just what were you thinking doing something so idiotically reckless?!”

Abashed, he laughed. “I didn’t see any other way to win.”

“He handled himself just fine,” Bartz, the stranger, stepped forward. “Otherwise I would not be here to get him.”

Nadia’s olive green eyes drilled holes into Bartz, who nervously looked away. “I told you that he isn’t going anywhere! Not without us!”

He glanced around the faces gathered in his house with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

Lucca scoffed and lifted her glasses with a delicate finger. “This Bartz Klauzer,” she shot him a glare at him. “Wants to take you away without us—oh wait, to be precise, without me!”

Bartz lifted his hands to defend himself. “I’m sorry, but I only need Crono and Nadia.”

“But why?!” she demanded, annoyed.

“What do you need me for? You haven’t explained anything to me yet.” Crono watched as Bartz reached into his pocket to take out the device he used to call the Epoch. He held it out for him. Crono accepted it quietly.

“Gaspar sent me to get you,” he started. “Because you are an expert with the Epoch and time traveling, though to be honest we aren’t going to be doing much time jumping as we will be doing planet travel.”

“Planet travel?” Lucca repeated, eyes shining like stars. “You mean Epoch is capable of space travel now and that there are other planets out there?”

He smirked at her. “Yes, and so many you cannot ever count them, some capable of life, others not. You would be surprised by all of the different beings out there.”

The three shared a laugh, which Bartz inquired about. “We have some idea,” he simply said, relief making him forget his worries about the return of Lavos.

“Well your friend Gaspar took me to the End of Time and told me about a new threat to the Void. If we do not stop it, life will cease to exist anywhere.”

“The Void?” Lucca looked at the faces of her friends, confused. “What is that?”

“Oh, right, you guys don’t know.” he thought for a moment on how to proceed with the explanation, pacing before the fine red sofa. “So you guys know about the Time Stream, right?” they nodded. “Alright, now picture something that comes before Time. It is creation of life itself. The beginning of everything and nothing, where life first formed through the Crystals. If something happens to the Void, all life—across every planet and time line—will be as if it never existed.”

Nadia gasped. “Then we need to do something!”

“I can’t go without all of my friends,” Crono said. “We are a team. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them.”

“You all don’t understand,” he said quietly. “This isn’t like before. We aren’t time traveling where you all will be safely dropped off at the End of Time if you get lost or if too many accompany you. We are traveling worlds as ‘ _anomalies_ ’ in time and existence, which threatens our existence enough as it is. Would you risk more of your friends than you need to?”

Crono quietly looked over Lucca and Nadia’s faces. _If I could, I wouldn’t let either of them go._ He looked at the stranger. “Why do you need Nadia and me for though?”

“I need you Crono because you are experienced in this, but also because,” he hesitated. “You are a warrior the Crystals picked”

“A what?” Lucca mumbled.

“A powerful warrior chosen by the Crystals the Void created to fight back darkness,” he explained, next placing his gentle eyes on Nadia. “And for some reason, the Epoch tells me this girl is reading off as an anomaly without telling me why, nor Gaspar can explain it. It is for that reason, I think, that the Time Spawns were after her.”

“They are after me?"

Crono could see that she was thinking about the innocents caught in the assault. He took her hand. “What happened isn’t your fault, Nadia.”

“He’s right,” Bartz said. “This isn’t your fault, but so that more of those things do not come here, we need to leave.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Lucca snapped. “She’s Nadia, a human, who has been here all her life. It is unlikely she is a temporal distortion, so what could you mean she is an ‘ _anomaly_ ’?”

Bartz took the device out of Crono’s hands and tossed it to her. “Summon Epoch and I will show you what I mean. I don’t understand it either, and neither did Gaspar, but he was the one that pointed me here because he felt the ‘ _shift in time_ ’ here, whatever that means, and when I arrived here Epoch started buzzing and moving on its own.” he pointed to Nadia. “Towards you."

“If we went, what are we to even do?” Crono asked. “So far you have told us why we are needed and what is happening, but how are we supposed to fight this ‘threat’ when we have no idea what it even is?”

Bartz gave a shrug. “That’s as far as I know...Gaspar insisted that I come here. He said ‘Crono and his friends will know what to do!’ but I’m beginning to think the man lost his mind.”

“Hmm, he said that?” Lucca mumbled and then clicked her tongue curiously, pacing thoughtfully to and fro the kitchen to the hall by the stairs. Bast watched its master and then started mimicking her. “You said the Epoch brought you to Nadia by itself?”

“Yes, why?”

Catching on, Nadia giggled. “She’s working through it.”

“Huh?” Bartz’s brows furrowed. Lucca paused mid-step and Bast copied her. She rubbed at her chin and then twirled on her heels to face Bartz.

“I think you are onto something about those mystics being after Nadia. It is no coincidence that the Epoch felt it needed to lead you to Nadia, who you said is showing as an ‘ _anomaly_ ’. Whatever this ‘ _anomaly_ ’ is in connection to Nadia, it is clear the mystics require the same thing.”

“Okay...but what does that mean?”

Crono crossed his arms to think. “Hmm...so what you are saying is that—”

Lucca lifted a finger with a smirk. “That whatever the ‘ _anomaly_ ’ is, it may very well be the key to ending the threat to this ‘ _void_ ’ and our existence.”

Bartz, catching what she meant, looked at the girl called Nadia with wide eyes. “I get it! So you are important in our quest.”

“Perhaps,” Lucca cut in. “I would need some time to test my theory, though.”

“We do not have time though,” Bartz said.

“I know that,” she spat, very much annoyed. “I grasp the importance of this threat, I think, even better than you. Time is a precious and fragile thing and just changing even the way a leaf falls in the past can mean unprecedented changes in the future. What you ask of my friends could be not only the most dangerous thing anyone could do in all existence, but it could change the outcome of our endeavors so heavily it could very well not matter. Time cannot truly be changed, not without some sort of sacrifice of greater change or threat.”

“We don’t have a choice though,” he explained. “If we don’t do anything now, all life will die.”

“I understand that too,” she puffed out after a sigh. “We are in quite a predicament, but if our time travel taught me anything, it is that caution is greatly rewarded. Would you give me half a week to create something for your journeys, at the very least?”

Bartz frowned. “Half a week? Hmm...”

Crono looked at her, surprised. “You aren’t going to come with us?”

“I don’t think it would be very wise at all if I were to go now with the mention of these ‘ _anomalies_ ’ in time. Gaspar set these restrictions and it would be unwise to ignore the ‘ _Guru of Time_ ’, wouldn’t it? And besides, I can finish MKIII while you are gone and use it to defend Truce, at least.”

Nadia twisted her arms behind her back nervously. “I do not want to go without you, Lucca. We have been through too much to separate now.”

“I agree,” Crono said. “You are the brains of our outfit, after all.”

She laughed happily, clearly smug about it. “I most certainly am, but I think my skills would best be suited here. I will have my inventions and magic to help protect everyone, too.”

“All by yourself though?” he whispered. “It isn’t safe. Those things are dangerous.”

Bartz gave a sharp gasp, remembering something. “Wait, wait, I have something to give you all!” he started to dig through a pouch equipped to his belt. “I know I left it in here somewhere...here it is!” he turned to Lucca and held out an orb that glowed like an ember. “Gaspar said to give you this.”

Lucca turned the orb over in her hands, marveled by the warmth and beauty of it. “What is this?”

“The Epoch said it is called a ‘ _Time Ember_ ’. I don’t know what he meant by ‘ _seek the gates to use them_ ’ though, but he was adamant about giving it to you.”

All at once the three younglings started laughing and hugging each other. Confused, Bartz asked them what was so exciting. Nadia smiled at him prettily. “This object can open old time gates we used to travel across time.”

“And?”

“Some of our friends are in different time lines than us,” Lucca explained. “With this I can bring them here while you guys are gone to help me defend our planet and if need be, various time lines.” Bartz oh’d. “Now that just leaves...” she went quiet, passing a look at Bast, almost suspiciously. It was mimicking her still, which she slapped his arm and told him to ‘quit it!’. She turned to Bartz. “Please, give me a few days at least. I think I can come up with something that can help you while you are in your interplanetary travel!” she sounded incredibly annoyed and jealous at the same time. “Just a few days, I promise, and then you can go.”

Crono said, “I think it would be a good idea to let her make whatever it is she is will to make for us.”

The planetary traveler furrowed his brows in thought. “What if more Time Spawns show up? It could put more people at risk.”

“We could wait at my house,” Lucca said. “It is isolated from the mainland, so if they attack, we are the only people at risk. It could speed things up for me as well, since most of my tools and materials are there with papa.”

Nadia looked sternly at Bartz. “I won’t go until she is finished, so you might as well say yes.”

He didn't have to doubt that. The girl didn't look like a pushover at all. He nodded, conceding. “Alright...a few days is all that I can spare. You better not waste ‘em.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the first chapter. There will most likely be some grammar errors but I'll be editing it through the week to make sure I don't miss something by pouring over it too soon and too quickly.
> 
> Well, anyway, I hope it was enjoyable! There's more to come! Thanks for reading!


	3. Unbound

**CHAPTER II:**

Unbound

There was an insistent drop somewhere around him and a cold that seeped deep into his bones, and he was faintly aware of a distant noise that sounded too much like someone screaming. He opened his eyes and was greeted by complete darkness. He took a deep breath to recollect his thoughts and took in a mouthful of moldy aroma that made him cough and turn over onto his knees.

That’s when he felt that his hands were closely bound together by iron and that his knees were now soaking wet, which only added to his cold problem. He lifted his hands and felt around for a wall; he found a slick, wet and cracked surface. He used it to hoist himself to his feet and was thankful that his feet had not been chained together.

Carefully he scooted his feet over the floor, prodding with the tips of his feet ahead of him to make sure there weren’t any sudden drops, until his foot scoffed over something smooth and he stumbled a little. He bit his tongue to hold back a swear, afraid it would alert his captors or whatever else may be in the darkness with him, and leaned down slowly to feel for the thing he nearly tripped over. His fingers brushed over the object. It was long, thin and smooth, he had thought, and then he lifted it up. The weight of it was familiar, and he knew without seeing it that it was some sort of metal pole, a cane perhaps.

He felt around the object for a moment longer, finally coming to the end and feeling a sharp edge cut in. A spear! He leaned against it and carefully maneuvered his hands up to the point and blindly stuck the cuffs onto the point to work it open. Sweat began to build on his forehead from the effort of it and anxiety.

“Open,” he whispered into the dark. Finally he heard something snap and the cuffs loosened. Yes! The cuffs fell to the stone floor with a loud ‘clank’, resounding around him just as loudly. He froze, waiting for someone or something to hear it and come to check it out, but nothing happened. He took the spear in one hand and felt his way through the darkness once more. In a moment of moving he was greeted by a set of bars, almost as thick as his forearm and a slightly lighter hall way where he could see other cells on the other side. He realized he was in a prison now, but how did it come to be?

He pressed his face against the bars in an attempt to better see down the halls but it vanished into the darkness too close to really see. He sighed and reached his arm through the bars to feel around for the lock. When he found it, he felt despair. It was huge and too awkward to get the spear out and wiggle the mechanism open.

He sat the spear aside and reached for the lock again, grabbing at the indents near the keyhole. The inner mechanism was different than the cuffs. He felt around for a moment longer and then with it in his memory, tried once more. It finally popped opened, and then he pushed the door open and froze once again when it creaked; it echoed but nothing gave a response.

Confident there was nothing nearby to catch him, he took the spear and quietly made his way down the hall facing east. He wasn’t sure where he was going or how to get out of wherever he was, but he knew that if he remained in one place for too long trouble would find him.

The darkness did not relent no matter how far he went, but he did find that his eyes adjusted better to it and he was soon able to make out shapes in the foreboding place around him. Most of what he stumbled upon were other cells and knowing that he did not do anything to deserve imprisonment determined that whoever was operating this place was not exactly handling criminals, so he went about looking into the cells for anyone to help and, in turn, help him. There wasn’t another soul in any of them so far and it made him grow worried.

 _I can’t remember a thing…_ he thought, stopping to consider his next move at a junction in the hall. _I...I think I was with Prim_ _m_ _at_ _Pandora._ Randi looked at the two paths before him, apprehensive for the uncertainty that dug at him, and then took the left hall. Eventually he came across an iron coffin with giant spikes on the opening. He leaned in to inspect what it was when he realized it was stained in blood. He stumbled away. _What sort of prison is this?_

He heard a distant voice and turned to the direction it came from quickly, lifting the spear to defend himself. The echo died off in a low tone that made his skin crawl. He knew that whatever it was, it could very well be his key to getting out, so he set aside his confusion and hurried down the hall until he burst into an open, circular room lit by a giant orb of light contained by iron bars that spun.

Along the walls were smaller cells and at the center, some sort of pit encircled by iron fencing and a net over it, to prevent escape. Lunging out of the walls above the cells was another floor, where several creatures and humans were roaring in applause or disapproval at what was going on in the pit.

 _Monsters!_ He readied himself for an assault on the foul beasts when at last he saw that the humans beside them were not even slightly concerned by the things. He was ripped away from his thoughts when he heard a male’s voice shouting, presumably from the pit as well.

“Leave her alone!”

Putting aside his wonderment and confusion, he charged towards the pit. The humans and lizard like creatures at the second floor caught sight of him and started screaming or hooting. A narrative voice rang over them all, loud and slightly distorted.

“Looks like we ‘ere got us an escapee!”

He made it to the pit and glanced down through the bars to see what was going on. There was a tall young man standing beside a young woman, who was on her knees holding a part of her arm. Both of them were heavily injured, with the man’s face bruised and blood stained, but the girl looked like she was in far more pain. At their feet was a broken stave, with a shattered shard stained with blood all around it.

They were both dressed in flimsy light armor, with some sort of contraption attached to their heads. The girl's contraption was different, as it covered her entire face, leaving holes for her eyes and nose. The man had an axe, about ready to break apart from the rust that ate it, and the girl was weaponless. There were four of the lizard things in the pit with them, armed heavily with new weapons and fine armor.

One of them was a tall, wiry lizard with blue scales with a half iron vest over his chest and a whip. He was heavily scared and the tip of his tail had been chopped off and embedded with a pike point. It was definitely the ring leader of the gruesome four, as he stood at the front and whipped at the man’s feet, forcing him back, though to the credit of the man he did not move without the young woman.

“An’ what shall we do ‘bout him, hmm?” the announcer asked the crowd and before Randi could understand what was happening, he was taken by two brutish lizards and dragged to the pit’s opening.

“Let me go!” he howled, kicking and pulling but was unable to break through the strength of the two obese things.

One of them opened a hatch in the fence and then the two carrying him tossed him into the pit onto his face. The spear he had found was tossed beside him. He got to his knees, tasted blood in his mouth and looked up at the spectacle going on.

The man was whipped once more, but he had allowed it so he could catch the whip and pull the grotesque lizard forward and onto his chest. The rest of the lizards bellowed angrily and charged forward in absolute rage.

Fearing the man would not survive the assault in the state that he was in and against so many foes, at least while he was so clearly refusing to budge from his spot in front of the girl, Randi jumped to his feet, grabbed the spear and charged forward with the agility and grace he had atoned himself to in his months of journeying with his friends. He leapt at one of the lizards in the back, used him as a springboard and went over the other two so he could land in front of them and the man and woman.

He hefted the spear up in a defensive stance. The man behind him looked surprised but relieved all the same. “Is she able to move?” he asked the man, who looked down at the woman who was barely conscious. The lizards formed a half circle before him, cackling at their fun’s misfortune.

“I’m not sure, she’s pretty hurt,” the man said, kneeling. “Can you move?” her answer was a weak nod, for the contraption on her head did not provide her with a slit for her mouth to speak from. He helped her up and her body trembled at the effort of rising.

Randi, without looking behind him, smiled. “Good. Once I have taken them down, we’re breaking out of here.”

The man stepped back with the woman leaning behind him. “We’ve been here for some time and we haven’t seen anyone escape. I’ve tried and...” he hesitated, with his free hand lingering at a knock on the contraption on his head before falling to his side. “and others paid the price. If you are serious about this, we can’t stop until we get out or we die.”

“I don’t intend to stay here,” Randi said. “Just be ready to fight our way out.” at that he charged the lizards and engaged them all in single combat. Four against one. The whip kept slashing through the air at him, missing only due to his agility, while spears jabbed and swords swept at him. He dodged them all only because he could see how untrained the things were. They were nothing but brutes, without discipline or patience, and so it made their strikes easy to see.

Randi swept the end of his spear under the feet of a skinnier lizard, knocking him to his back, and then leapt over him to assault the spear wielder behind him. The thing’s arms were large, perfectly muscled and would have been deadly if the lizard had used a hammer or axe. It was his downfall. Randi twisted his spear down and then sliced up, knocking the lizard’s weapon out of his hands and then he planted a heavy boot into its chest, knocking him down.

There were two left now; an obese thing with its own sword and the ring leader with the whip. Randi knew that the other two were likely to get back up and unwilling to cut through them again or allow them to hinder his escape any longer, he turned back to them—surprising the last two on their feet—and bashed his foot into their faces until they stilled with unconsciousness, and then he turned his attention back to the last two.

The whip hissed through the air and struck Randi across the shoulder. He gasped, stumbled out of the reach of the whip and tightened his hold on his spear. The fat sword user was charging forward, his belly jiggling under his cropped, worn blue shirt.

He slashed, almost blindly, and Randi ducked just in time to miss the finely polished blade. It dug deep into the sand but just as quickly as it had sunk, it rose again to attack its target. The lizard with the whip was at him as well, forcing Randi to evade and only evade.

 _These two have worked together before_ , he concluded. _They are certainly better at a team than the rest of them together._ He did a graceful backflip to avoid a combined attack and landed perfectly on his feet behind them. The crowd cheered, their clapping a thunderous roar in the arena. _I can’t take them both on with just a spear. If I had a sword…_ as the thought crossed his mind, the fat lizard’s sword came down on him.

A last minute jump back saved him from having his head split open but cost him his balance. He stumbled back, tripped and landed on his back. Just as he got back to his feet, the whip cried through the air and wrapped around his throat.

He gasped and struggled to undue the thing, but it was taunt with distance and strength. _Damn it!_ He thought, fingers digging pathetically at the thing stealing the life from him. _It can’t end like this….I have to find a way to bring him back!_ Tears burned in his eyes in the realization of his failure once again.

He heard a shout and suddenly the whip was loose enough for him to free himself. He staggered a bit, reclaimed his breath and turned to see what had happened. It was the young man; he had tackled the whip user to the ground and was relentlessly punching him, unaware of the advance of the fat lizard.

Without time to close the distance, Randi did the only thing he knew he could; he threw his spear. It raced through the air and pierced the lizard through his left shoulder and tore him from his legs to his knees in a loud, painful cry. The crowd was in a frenzy of approval and disapproval, their bets most likely the cause.

He ran toward the lizard and shoved him to his face as he removed the spear and went to help the young man. While the man had the lizard pinned down, Randi used his spear’s butt to bash into the thing’s head and knock him unconscious.

Randi, breathing hard, leaned on his spear. “We have to move, before they send in more!”

“We’re aren’t getting out of here in this state,” the man said, slapping the contraption on his head. There was a glowing red orb at the center of it where the forehead was. “We need magic.”

The words ignited new strength into him. “Magic?”

“Yes, magic! How else do you expect us to get out of here?” he gestured to the iron fence. “Even if we could get out of this thing, there are a hundred of them out there ready to take us down and in case you forgot, one of us is too injured to fight.”

Unable to pause and ask about magic, he lifted the spear. “If that’s the case...sit still!”

The man’s bright blue eyes widened. “Wait, what are you doing—” and then the spear was dug into a small sliver of space in the contraption. “Stop, are you crazy!”

“Didn’t I say sit still?!” he barked and then wiggled the spear about. The aforementioned backup was already rushing towards the pit. As the hatch started to open, Randi gave a cry of success and the contraption fell to the sand in a loud ‘thump’.

No sooner than it left his head did the man turn to the lizard and human backup charging through the hatch did he lift a hand and a black mass appeared over their heads. They were all collectively lifted off the ground and then slammed back into the ground, pressing them down like a sheet of paper.

“Get her!” the man shouted and Randi turned to look for the injured woman. She was leaning against the back of the pit, panting. He ran over and swung one of her arms over his shoulder and used the spear as added support. When he arrived by the man’s side, he released the spell and then turned to Randi and took the woman into his arms as if she were no more a child to him. “Hurry, that spell won’t keep ‘em pinned for long!”

Randi could tell. The group was already slowly recovering from whatever it was they were subjected to, so he led the way out of the pit and into the hall he had entered from. They passed the iron coffin before they paused. “I don’t know the way out.” he admitted finally, sweating both from exhaustion and fear.

The young man pointed to the other hall, the one he had decided not take. “This way.” he went ahead and Randi followed. Several minutes later, they could hear a loud warning echoing through the halls concerning their escape. The man did not pay it any of his attention nor his severe injures as he raced down the hall with the woman, who was now unconscious.

 _How does he know where to go?_ He wondered as they went down another hall way, this one lit perfectly to see cells emptied of life but scattered with the remains of other victims. He blanched and turned his eyes away. There was no use in looking. There was nothing he could do.

Finally the man stopped them before a giant iron gate that led on to another hall, though at the end of this one they could see immense light. It was the outside. “Get this open, quickly!” the man commanded and Randi did as he was told. The lock was tricker than the rest, and as soon as he freed it he saw a secondary one and started on it. “What’s taking so long?” the man asked nervously.

“This is harder than it looks,” Randi snapped. “I only perfected it today, you know.” at that the last lock fell to the floor and he opened the gate. “Quickly! I’m going to relock it after us, so go ahead without me.”

The man paused for a moment to consider it but then nodded. “Alright...good luck!” and then he went on by himself, leaving Randi to do his thing. He collected the locks, went to the other side and closed the gate to try and relock them. The first was easier, but the second was a little loose due to his improvised meddling. “No, no, no,” he muttered under his breath as the sound of approaching enemies resounded down the halls to him. “Come on you stupid thing...lock!” finally he got it to close and lock, and then dashed away from the gate as fast as his feet could carry him.

Within minutes he was out in the open air, where a sea of sand greeted him in a sparkling, heated display. The sky was clear and blue, and the sun burned angrily above. Rolling sand dunes and arid, rocky patches of ground popped up randomly before his eyes, where in the distance he could see walls of rock and nothing else in the horizon where the mountains were not.

He spared the surprise of an unknown location a moment before he looked for his fellow escapees. The young man was waiting at the bottom of the descending rocky cliff, waving at him because the distance was too great to be heard. Randi climbed down after him, fearful that the locks would not keep their captors and would be killers back.

“We need to hurry!” the man shouted when he was finally close enough. “This way!” he ran ahead and Randi followed once more, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if their enemies were giving chase, until the hour grew old and they were running down a rocky pathway scattered with various animal and monster bones and dry bushes.

The heat was unreal. It left his mouth as dry as the sand, and his shirt drenched in sweat. He knew if they didn’t find water soon, they were doomed. That thought made him look over at his new friends to see how the woman fared. Her face was pale and her lips cracked, and blood ran down fresh from her injured arm.

 _Magic! That man could use magic! Maybe he can make us some water to give her, or cure her even. I suppose we have to find someplace safe first_ _though_ , he thought, keeping an eye out for any place that could provide them security. There were many caves higher up in the mountainous walls around them and small paths leading who knows where, but certainly nothing that their enemies wouldn’t be able to see or willing to check, and besides that, the young man did not inspect them as he did. _It must mean he knows where he is going, it has to be that_.

Finally, as the sun started to descend in the sky and it seemed to get only slightly colder, the young man paused, drenched in sweat and panting. He leaned down to sit the woman down, still asleep, and leaned on his knees. It was only then that Randi saw the extent of the man’s injuries. It only made him respect this man more for the selflessness he displayed for the benefit of the girl. He could have easily left her behind, anyone else would have, but he went on despite his own suffering.

Randi couldn’t have asked for a better person to have met and escaped with, and hopefully, befriend. _I wonder how they got captured...I wonder how he can use magic._

The man wiped a hand over his brow and looked at him. “I don’t suppose you have any water? Or ethers, or potions even?”

“I don’t have water, sorry,” he said softly. “And I don’t know what ethers and potions are.”

The man laughed happily. “Of course,” he muttered, standing straight. “I guess you don’t know where you are, either?”

“That’s right...how did you know?”

“Because I didn’t know either, at first,” he explained and held a hand out. “My name’s Tidus. Yours?”

Randi accepted the hand quickly. “Nice to meet you Tidus, I’m Randi.” he released the man’s hand and looked around. “Do you know where we should go to recover or find help?”

“I did see a city on my way to the prison, but I can’t see any landmarks I memorized down here.” he looked up the walls. “If I could get up there, maybe I could see...”

Randi followed his eyes up the walls that scaled further than two hundred feet. “Can’t you use magic to get us up or out of this place?”

“I’m too exhausted,” he said tiredly. “I used all I had back there. They’ve been starving us of food, water and rest for four days. It would have been the fifth, today, if we didn’t get out. I don’t think she would have survived another day, either.” he glanced at the woman and then looked away quickly. There was guilt in his movement. "I think she's been there too long."

Randi sighed and tried to think on their next plan of action. _We need to get out of this desert, but how?_ He remembered his rope and reached for his pouches at his belt and dug through them. He had been ‘liberated’ of all of his possessions, though. _Okay then, so I need to think of something else...that’s fine._ He glanced around for anything of use and found several small, green plants. He thought he recognized them so he hurried over to dig them out.

Tidus watched him tiredly but said nothing. Instead he sat down beside the woman to rest. “I think I can get us some water from this,” Randi announced, returning to their side. “It won’t be enough for all of us, though, so since you can use magic you should have it. If anything happens, we’ll need you.”

Tidus shook his head. “No, not me,” he sat up. “Can you get this thing off of her head too?” he reached over to touch the contraption. “She needs it more than I do.” Randi looked at the woman quickly and decided he was right; she was far worse than either of them. If she didn’t get water or food she wouldn’t make it in the heat with her injuries.

“I can,” he said, setting aside his bundle of plants to reach for his spear. “Keep her head still, I don’t want to accidentally miss and hurt her.” Tidus went to the job quickly and then Randi started dig the point of the spear into the sliver of an opening. It took a moment of failures before he finally found success and was able to remove the heavy thing from her head.

As soon as he tossed it aside he looked at her, curious to see her face. Her hair fell down her shoulders in waves of mint green, around rather pointed ears. He gaped momentarily. The only other human he saw with that color hair and facial details was Geshtar and the rest of Vandole's generals, though he hoped the similarities ended there. Tidus didn’t seem to mind at all as he inspected her head for any trauma while Randi went to preparing the plants in what he hoped would give them some measure of water. He used one of his pouches, made of animal liver, to collect the water he produced from the plants.

“Is that really safe?” Tidus asked finally, when the pouch was handed to him.

“I could test it first, if you want,” Randi said. “I’ve done it before where I’m from, with plants that look just like that. What other choice do we have, anyway?” _we will die soon if we do not find water and rest._

Tidus admitted defeat and started to gently pour the water into her mouth. She sputtered for a moment before she took several sips, and then the water was gone. Tidus handed the pouch back. “We are going to need to find some water fast.”

“Agreed,” Randi said. “But first, we need someplace to hide to rest. Do you think you can carry her again?”

“We don’t have a choice, right?” he asked through a smile, raising back to his feet. He discarded the armor he was forced to wear, revealing a half jacket of yellow and shorts. He was certainly dressed for the heat. He freed her of her armor too, revealing a white one piece dress with gold features, a blue bolero jacket with puffy sleeves, white forearm gloves and stalkings with dirty white boots.

With the armor discarded, they set forward once more, stopping every once in a while only so Tidus could rest and Randi could search for water, wherever he could find it. He only found water several more times throughout their stops before the valley grew empty of plants altogether and then they had the problem of the night freeze to deal with. Tidus’ teeth were chattering by midnight, and he looked ready to drop from exhaustion, and still they hadn’t found a good place to hide and rest, and now to escape the cold and what they assumed were the howls and cries of monsters.

As if answering their silent pleas, the valley soon opened into another wide desert. The moon was bright enough to illuminate much before them, including the monsters prowling about. Randi could only stare in disbelief at the giant, bipedal monsters moving across the sand oblivious to the tinier threats or even their presence.

Tidus saw and said, dryly, “Without challenges it wouldn’t have been fun, I guess.”

Randi sighed. “Maybe if we steer clear of the big one—”  
  
“Believe me, that’s not what you should be worried about,” Tidus cut in. “When I was captured, we drove right by it. The smaller ones are the only ones that attacked us.”

“I don’t think we should test our luck,” Randi muttered. “Come on, we’ll cut right by them to the left.” and so they went on, trying their hardest not to make too much noise in fear of catching the attention of the beasts—particularly the large one—until they reached the side of a large ledge where the ground to the left traveled haphazardly upward, to a higher level of the desert.

It was here that they happened upon bowl cacti, and Tidus showed him how to extract water from it. They drank generously then, relieved and absolutely thankful, though worried still that the woman had not woken yet. They gave her water as well, and used the moment’s rest to tend to the injuries that they could. The worst of them was the open wound on her arm, which Randi had a spared ribbon for. It would not help in the long run though, and they both knew it. She needed help and fast, unless Tidus could recover fast enough to treat her wounds.

“You said you came through here earlier, right?” Randi said as they sat quietly on a lower ledge above the monsters and the giant dinosaur that now slept soundly, still oblivious to other threats. Tidus gave a pert nod, drinking more of his water. “How close are we to any place that could help us?”

“I think a few days’ walk, I don't know.” he muttered. “We were on a carriage driven by chocobos, so we moved too quickly for me to really see much.”

“Chocobos?”

Tidus looked at him and laughed. “Oh, right...do you recognize this place?” he asked, nudging his head toward the desert. Randi didn’t have to think about it. He did not. “Like I said earlier, I didn’t either. I was really confused, especially for the first days of captivity when those lizard things decided to beat on me. It was like that for a while, until I was given a cell mate who told me we’re in ‘Ivalice’.”

Randi stared, confused. “Ivalice? I never heard of it before.”

“You aren’t from Spira either, huh?”

“That’d be right,” he admitted, extremely confused. “So we’re in different countries?”

Tidus sighed and leaned into the rocky wall, worry in his eyes. He watched the night stars for a moment in silence and Randi followed suit. It was clear his question didn’t need to be answered; he knew the answer. There was no way there were two other countries in his world they hadn’t learned of, especially those capable of magic. He had seen to the end of magic. They weren’t separated by land or water, but by different worlds.

Suddenly depressed by the thought, and how impossible it was that it was wrong, he leaned back as well and crossed his arms. "How long were you in there?"

Tidus sighed. "I can't really say how long ago it was that I was captured. I lost track after my second month in that hell hole."

For a moment Randi considered it, saddened. What kind of monster could do such things to other beings? He looked away, suddenly too exhausted to do much of anything. “We should get some rest while we can...”

“Good idea,” Tidus said, closing his eyes and falling asleep quickly. Randi smiled and looked back at the stars. He stood guard while they slept, unwilling to endanger themselves and feeling responsible since he was the only one not injured. Sometime as the moon descended and the air grew hotter though, his eyes closed and he was asleep.

~∞~

In the morning he woke to the sound of something scraping across hard rock, slowly but steadily. He rubbed at his eyes and glanced over to see if his partners were still there, and saw that only the woman laid beside him. There was color to her now, but she still looked too weak to move much at all on her own should she wake. Tidus was gone, too.

Randi sat up and looked over the edge of the ledge and saw the blond dragging a thin platform behind him covered in a dusty, torn cloth. It looked like it was a sail. He looked around and spotted that most of the monsters were gone, with a few wolves scavenging about the sand dunes for prey, and so he climbed down to help.

“Where did you find this?” Randi asked when he stood beside him.

“I went out looking for water and saw it sticking out of the sand,” he said, dropping it. “We could use it to carry the girl.”

“Good idea. I’ll help.”

Together they brought the platform close to the ledge and carried the woman over to it, straightened her up and then went about collecting more water from the cacti, which tasted slightly of sand and was stale. Once they addressed their thirst, they climbed up the cliff, hoping that what they would find beyond would lead them someplace safe and cool.

At the top, the land opened up into another desert, though to their surprise they could see in the far off distance what looked like a castle and dark clouds. A storm. Tidus laughed. “Looks like we're gonna get that water, huh?”

“Right,” Randi answered with his own laugh before they went on. The dinosaur from the night before was ever present at the far east, slowly walking in the same direction as them. Randi worried it was tracking them, but Tidus assured him that thing was not going to attack them unless they provoked it first.

The woman stirred restlessly but never woke, moaning quietly. It was hard to make out her words but they were sure she had said names. Randi was worried about her, too. He looked at Tidus, who kept his eyes on the horizon and the castle. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“Definitely,” he said quietly, though his tone was hard. “We just gotta get her someplace for help.” suddenly an arrow shot in front of them and planted itself firmly in the sand, a red ribbon blazing behind it in the desert’s harsh, sandy wind. Randi was confused for a moment until he turned around and saw several men and those lizard things several yards behind them on the sand dunes.

They had been found.

Tidus noticed too and started dragging the platform quicker; Randi struggled to keep up with the longer legs and clearly athletic lifestyle he must have had. More arrows came and went, most of them missing largely due to the space between them. The horizon didn’t seem to get any closer the faster and longer they ran, but Tidus kept going as if it did.

 _We’re not going to make it_ , Randi realized fearfully, and he knew why; the woman. If they would leave her behind, they would be able to escape for sure. _We can’t do that though_ , he told himself, unwilling to let her face the horrors he had seen alone. _I’ll fight them all to death if I have to! I won’t go back_! Finally they could go no further as the lizards and the men were too close to turn their backs to or to ignore. Tidus let the platform go and turned to face them with the axe he still had. Randi readied his spear, sweating.

There were fifteen of them, and one giant yellow bird another lizard straddled with a bow. In a rush of shouting, they met in battle. Tidus was quick but not as effective as he could be with the clumsy, heavy weapon and Randi was outnumbered, so his agility was only getting him so far. They managed only to rid themselves of a handful of their attackers temporarily before they were ultimately herded together and encircled.

The lizard with the whip was there, glaring, as he whipped at them, searing their flesh painfully as the others howled in laughter. “Thought you could escape us, eh? We still have more shows to perform!” the whip cut through the air and slashed at Randi’s back, throwing him to his feet in a cry of pain.

Tidus growled. “He’s just a kid! Stop it!”

“Or?” the lizard challenged, readying his whip once more, and then he whipped it. Tidus lifted his axe in a desperate attempt to block it or catch it like he had done before, but it struck him across the throat and pulled him to his knees.

The lizard pulled harder, laughing, choking Tidus. “We can give a show with just the girl and you...No one enjoys seein’ a kid fight.” he pulled harder and harder until the whip was taunt and impossible to remove, and about ready to snap his neck or finally take the last of his breath. And then it went limp and Tidus fell on his face, wheezing and coughing into the sand.

The lizard looked confused. “What the….” and then he turned his eyes and saw the cause standing with all of her weight on one leg and one hand outstretched. Blood gushed freshly from the wound on her arm and dripped into the sand, creating a pool. “Ah! Looks like someone has some fight left in her after all!” he whipped at her and the whip combusted into flame just several inches away from her face. He gave a loud swear before he threw his hand toward her and screamed, “Get her!” the foes rushed her together, with the chocobo mount still in the back. Tidus lifted himself to try and give her aid, but the lizard stomped a hard foot down on his back to pin him down. “Ah, ah...sit back and enjoy the show boy.”

The woman was fighting them back with magic, though the spells were too weak to really push her foes into defeat or to scare them back, it was enough to keep them from overwhelming her. Tidus knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer with her injuries and tried to fight the lizard back, but he was too weak and exhausted. Finally one of the lizards got through her defenses and whacked her across her back with his stave, throwing her to her knees and onto her injured arm. She gave a hoarse cry and crumbled to the sand.

“Pathetic,” the ring leader growled. “Tie them up, and give the girl's helm more nethicite this time. She’s too much trouble without it.” They lifted the woman up and tried to bring her over, but she tore her arms away and fell backward onto the sand once more. The aggressors started laughing, as did the ring leader. “I’ve seen this kind of fight before,” he said. “You’s a slave, aren’t ya?” When she was before him, the group tossed her at his feet. He lifted her face to see her eyes; they glared back at him and he smiled. “So’s I’m right, eh? Then it’s only right ya get a new master.”

He took one of the helmet contraptions from someone beside him and tried to put it back on her, but stopped when he saw pale purple eyes change into black orbs and the skin around her eyes shift to red rings. Before he could shout or move, her body turned white and he and the others around her were thrown back. In her place was a creature of pale lavender fur and wild hair. The men were stunned to their core for a moment before screaming ‘ _monster!_ ’ and attacking. She leapt at them like a rabid dog, slashing with her claws or kicking them back.

Tidus lifted himself, now free of the ring leader and hurried over to Randi in the confusion. He lifted the boy up and shook him awake. Olive-yellow eyes greeted him before the boy helped himself up and ran a hand through shaggy, red hair. “What happened?” Tidus’ answer was to point at the scene. Randi looked and was confused. A purple creature was easily tearing through the numbers of their enemies, casting spell after spell and flying about to avoid projectiles or assaults. “What is that thing?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you!” he laughed, though there was a tinge of something else in his laugh other than humor. “Can you stand?”

“I’m good,” he said, standing, just as the creature used thunder on the ring leader and he collapsed to the sand unmoving. The creature’s red-rimmed eyes trailed over the fallen bodies, over them and then to the last aboard the chocobo, who was staring wide-eyed at her.

She lifted a hand to cast a spell but he gave a cry, kicked the chocobo and took off the way they had come. She lowered her hand and looked at Randi and Tidus’, displaying none of the ferocity or power she had just seconds ago. Instead, a sweet and almost child-like voice came from its lips. “Are...are you two okay?”

Tidus nodded, standing with a slight wince and rubbing at his neck. “Yea, thanks to you.”

Randi swallowed back a ‘ _who and what are you?_ ’ and nodded. “We are now.” he looked around and then hurried over to one of the fallen enemies and ripped the sword out of his hands, tossed it to Tidus and then faced the creature, who was watching carefully. “We should hurry Tidus and get the girl to some help while we can.”

He hadn’t seen Tidus make a face like ‘ _oh, I forgot something_ ’ but heard the creature say ‘ _oh_ ’ very quietly. He faced it just as it lifted a hand. A gentle green light wafted over her and then she opened her eyes and as if smoke blowing away from her body, she changed back. Randi couldn’t believe his eyes, not at all!

 _That thing was the girl this whole time?!_ He was awed. _Then she’s a Mana Spirit!_ She saw the look in his eyes and adverted her eyes, very much self conscious, he knew. Instead of spouting all of his questions like he wanted, he walked over and held a hand out for her.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I’m Randi.”

Tidus smiled as he approached. “And you already know me.”

She looked at them squarely for a moment, considering something, before she gently smiled. “My—my name is Terra. It...it is nice to meet you." she looked at Tidus next. "Officially.”

Randi recalled the spells and stared at her, yet again awed. _She had used magic too...I can barely believe it. Perhaps she knows where we are. “_ Do you know where we are, Terra?” he leaned down to take a sword for himself.

She reached a hand up to brush green locks out of her eyesight and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry...”

“That’s fine,” Tidus chirped. “We’ll figure it out.” they noticed her injuries again, still bleeding. Her expression was one of pain. "Your arm...sorry, we forgot about it."  
  
Randi said, "I can wrap it, if you want."

"That's fine," she mumbled, looking away. "I can—" she was cut off by a loud chocobo call in the distance ahead of them, towards the horizon harboring the castle, and they all turned to face it, worried for another threat. Randi and Tidus hoisted their swords up and prepared for battle while Terra lifted a hand.

Tidus glared. “Great! We only just got rid of the last guys!”

A line of a dozen chocobos finally came into eyesight, armored and ridden by fully armored men. A single white chocobo led them. Terra lifted both hands and was ready to cast a spell when a harsh gust of wind came from the group and threw her into Tidus. She gave a cry as they tumbled into the sand. Randi could do no more than raise his sword when he was hit with the same spell. As the sand cleared the men encircled them. The one on the white chocobo broke into the clearing to stand before them and then removed his helmet.

The man said, “In the name of the Queen of Rabanastre, you are hereby ordered to cease any and all attempts to fight back and accompany us back to the capitol to undergo interrogation for your crimes.”

Tidus finally got Terra off of him. She had been knocked unconscious and her forehead was bleeding profusely. He was beyond angry. “What crimes?! We were just attacked and—”

“Silence!” the man howled. “Or I will make you be silent.” he turned to one of the soldiers. “Round up the slavers and the ones already disposed of. We’re heading back.”

 _Slavers?_ Randi thought, horrified.

The soldiers took to locking them in cuffs. Randi knew better than to fight back. There would be a time they could explain their story, but Tidus was having none of it. He fought tooth and nail to be free of his new captors. “We’re not slavers! We were caught and—” he never got to finish his words for one soldier butted him on the head with the pommel of his sword.

Randi glared at the leader, who never noticed. They locked Terra up the same way and tossed them all into a mobile cell they had behind them and set off for the castle in the horizon. Randi decided to keep calm and memorize the land going by them. One way or another, they would all be free again and would need to know the way around to hide or take to freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few days later than I intended but such is life! Anyway, thank you for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed it! :)
> 
> Update; June 19th 2017
> 
> As I'm getting to release the new chapters, I have decided to give Randi his real name, even if it was only ever suggested in a magazine at the time. Plus, the more I thought on it, the more "Randi" fit him!


	4. Out of Place

**Chapter IV:**  
  
Out of Place

Bartz had given Lucca a few days to work on something she promised would help them in their journey. He wasn’t sure if that was true but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get Crono and the girl to leave without it, so he complied. In those days he spent it helping with the injured folk from the attack and recovering the dead to bury them.

There were countless families with lost loved ones, some more than others, but their pain shared. It was horrible watching a parent bury a child, or a child left as an orphan. The only thing he could be thankful for was that Crono and Nadia were not killed in the attack, so that they could put an end to turmoil such as this.

On the fourth day Lucca had finished the device and sent someone to tell Crono. Bartz was in the kitchen trying to politely ignore the flirtatious behavior of the boy’s mother when Crono ran into the kitchen. He was spared!

So when they met up with Nadia at the town’s main gate, they went together. Bartz was expecting some sort of weapon that they could attach to the ship, but when they arrived and Lucca presented them with a hefty sized device meant for carrying around, he was confused.

It was shaped in such a way it was meant to be held but it was clunky and cold, and there was a screen on the front with a gauge on it and a compass. There were four buttons aligned in a diamond shape below the screen and each a separate color, like the elements. It also strangely resembled that strange robot he met and hadn’t seen since.

“What does it do Lucca?” Nadia asked, looking over the device around the side of Crono, who was holding it.

She smugly smiled and lifted her glasses. “Crono, point it at Nadia! Oh, wait, turn it on first with the green button.” the boy did as instructed and Bartz watched as the gauge started ticking almost crazily when pointed at Nadia. A sharp buzzing sound accompanied it.

“How neat!” Nadia chirped happily.

“Oh, so it will detect anomalies?” Bartz asked, getting a ‘that’s it!’ from the intelligent young lady.

“I made it using vital parts from Bast,” she explained, getting a gasp from Crono and Nadia. She looked at them. “What?”

“This is Bast?” Nadia asked, taking it from Crono’s hands. “How could you dismantle him?” she was clearly already attached to the robot.

Lucca frowned so heavily it caused her glasses to slide down the bridge of her nose. “He was the one who thought of it. He wanted me to so he could help. Besides, once you are done, I can put him back. I only used his processor and a few other parts and I guess you could say that is Bast, just in a different shape.”

Bartz crossed his arms. “Then can we go?”

“Hold on!” she snapped, taking the device from Nadia. Bartz blushed. “The red button is to turn it off, the blue button is for the compass and the brown button is for the detection mode. The little black button on the side is to turn it up or down, so you can use it without alerting anyone to your presence.”

“You certainly thought of everything,” Bartz said, impressed. “How far do we have to be from the anomaly to detect it, though?”

“If you equip it to the Epoch, the distance could be great,” she said. “I mean...I am just giving a hypothesis. You won’t give me time to test it out.”

“If I had time, I would,” he said, almost defensively. “Now we should really be off. Crono, I’ll get Epoch ready outside. You will have to drive the thing as I’m not very good at it.”

“We will be out there in a minute,” Nadia said softly, and so Bartz left them to what he assumed were their goodbyes.

~∞~

Crono knew he couldn’t delay their departure any longer. The monsters that had attacked the Square were too powerful and too much of a threat to ignore. He knew that the only way to give rid of them was to accompany Bartz and help him in his endeavors. He could only trust that Gaspar had truly given the man the time traveling vessel and his advice, otherwise they were walking into some elaborate trap.

So Crono waited until Nadia said her goodbyes, teary eyed but refusing to let them drip, to Lucca before he gave into it as well. He hugged her much like a brother to a sister, refusing as Nadia had to let his tears fall. Lucca would endlessly tease him for it anyway.

The girl in his arms laughed and disengaged herself from his hug. “Not so hard Crono, I need to breathe you know.”

“Sorry,” he offered sheepishly. “We will be back Lucca, I promise it.”

“I know you will,” she said brightly. “If not because you promised, because Nadia wouldn’t let you forgo it.”

He had to laugh at that. Nadia looked at her friend with great grief. “Are you sure you will be safe here while we are gone?”

“I’m sure,” she lifted the bag Bartz had given them earlier. “I know what time lines to go to for our friends. Ayla will be glad of it, I’m sure.”

Nadia hugged her once more, quicker. “I will miss you, Lucca.”

The girl simply patted the princess’ back and leaned away with an smile. “Then the only logical choice for you to take is to hurry along your mission so that we can all be together again. You will find us all here when you return, safe and sound and curious to know your tales.”

Nadia smiled at her. “You are right,” she turned to Crono. “Let’s be done with this thing as quickly as we can be.” and then a deep blush appeared over her face and she looked away girlishly. “There is something I need to tell you after this is all over anyway....so!” and then she sharply turned on her heels and fled out of the house, leaving Crono in a confusing sputter.

Lucca laughed happily at him. “Ah, the woes of a man.” she took his shoulder and squeezed it. “Take care Crono, of yourself and of Nadia. I’m sure if anyone can beat this threat, whatever it is, it will be you.”

He didn’t know how to take that much responsibility, and he certainly doubted his own abilities would be the deciding factor in this endeavor. He had a feeling things were more problematic than Bartz even knew, and that their journey would be far worse than initially perceived. He told himself if they could rid themselves of the galactic monster such as Lavos, they could get rid of a time monster though. The two were almost the same by definition, at least, though he knew it was foolish to assume they were identical beyond that.

So without anything to say about that particular praise and good wish from his friend, he simply hugged her again, said his goodbyes and left her house knowing full well she was watching and waving them off.

The Epoch was situated far enough away from the house taking off would not cause any damage. He saw Nadia admiring the ship closely, running a hand down the length of the hull with a smile that told how much she had missed it.

Bartz could be seen inside of the cockpit with his arms crossed as he glared down at the controls, clearly confused or annoyed by something. When the man spotted Crono’s approach, that look of annoyance disappeared into a bright and happy smile.

“There you are! Now we can get this show on the road.”

Crono glanced back at Lucca’s house, sighed and then nodded. “Yes, let’s go.” Nadia chirped and ran to the ladder and climbed her way up into the interior. He joined her immediately and was taken aback by the difference of the Epoch now that he could finally look for it.

It was beyond different. There were four seats now, with two captain’s chairs at the front, and large enough space to house a few more people if need be. The hatch that opened before could still be seen as seams in a smooth, polished finish and the entire roof acted as the door, a dome of glass.

Bartz gestured to one of the captain’s seats, before a red leathered wheel. “You take the lead. Gaspar said you’d know what to do anyway.”

Nadia looked at him strangely as the glass dome closed behind them finally. “Didn’t you fly it here though?”

“No, it was auto pilot. I wouldn’t be able figure this thing out without extended lessons.” he took a seat in one of the passengers’ seats and sighed as he leaned into the comforts of a supporting friend. “This is definitely more comfortable for me.”

Nadia giggled. “You need to learn. It wouldn’t be wise not to. Watch what we do closely.” she went to take the secondary seat beside Crono, with the blue leathered wheel. Bartz leaned forward to watch, really curious despite his comments.

Crono pressed several buttons and the ship lifted to life while at the same time Nadia was pressing and pulling several levers to her right that changed the way the ship was situated in the air and the speed in which they took off when Crono finally pressed the pedals at his feet.

The sky seemed to tear apart at their speed. Bartz nearly hurled and forced his eyes closed as he fumbled blindly for the seat belt to latch himself in. Nadia was calmly monitoring one of the screens without any distinct expression on her face while Crono only occasionally glanced at the screen.

“We have a destination,” Nadia announced, now frowning at the screen. She tapped it with a finger to be sure it wasn’t screwing up. “I don’t know what it wants though. Time travel was another thing but this...”

Crono leaned over to glance at it himself, equally perplexed by the commands it was giving. “I guess we do what it wants.”

Nadia shrugged and reached for the red button beside the screen. She pressed it and a keyboard shot out of the dashboard. She pressed the keys, ‘w, o, r, l, d’ and then on a smaller part of the keyboard that was separated by a lever of green, she pressed ‘XII’. Finally she pulled the lever down and the Epoch answered with a wind of steam behind them. Crono took the wheel again and guided them through a new stream of gold and brown that opened up before them. Bartz blanched and leaned over the chair, feeling ready to puke, until several seconds later the vessel pulled into a sudden stop that took his mind away from his motion sickness.

Nadia looked back at him with a wonderful smile of adventure. “We’re here.” she unbuckled herself as Crono begun the landing procedures and ran over to the windows to get a better look. Weakly and still ready to give into his motion sickness, Bartz unlatched his seat belt and followed, though he felt a little nervous nearing the windows at such a height. What he saw put him in complete awe though.

They were drifting down past buildings that all but disappeared into the sky. Hundreds of airships fluttered and zoomed by around the buildings in all shapes and sizes. He could see a large portion of desert stretching as far as he could humanly see and then as they sped up towards their landing target, he could see a huge rainforest.

He had never seen anything like it!

When their vessel shot through the heavy rain over the rainforest, their field of vision vanished and he felt even more excitement at what could come next. Traveling worlds would surely be too much fun!

When they were finally on land, Crono didn’t seem very awed by it, and neither did his ladyfriend Nadia, but he supposed with what he knew it was understandable. How many worlds and times have they seen? It sent shivers down his spine just thinking about it.

As they waited for a clearing in the rain, Nadia began fiddling with her crossbow, expression calm yet betrayed by the worried gleam in her soft green eyes. He recognized that look—pain and regret. She was worried she was going to feel _it_ again, which made him dread asking what she and her friends had experienced, though he knew that no journey to save the world could be had without casualties of loved ones.

He looked back outside the dome of glass at the rainstorm and could now see some odd creatures swathing through it for a short moment. Maybe when they had a moment free, and knew each other better, he would pick up the courage to ask about their travels and give them whatever peace of mind he could offer them.

Crono’s voice awoke him from his thoughts. “We shouldn’t wait any longer. I don’t think the rain will clear any time soon and this is the closest place the Epoch is picking up anomalies.”

“Let’s just hope those ‘anomalies’ aren’t too much of a pest,” Bartz said, leaning away from the window. “What is this place?”

Crono looked at the glowing glass in front of him for a second and then said, “World XII.”

“It doesn’t have a name?” Crono shrugged, so Bartz let it go. Maybe the time traveling airship needed an upgrade or something. “So where are we to begin? Does Epoch know what we are looking for, and where?”

“I doubt it,” the boy mumbled.

“You don’t know?”

Nadia looked up from her weapon with another one of those expressions he knew too well. “This Epoch is different from our own Bartz. If it knew and could, it would have told us by now and if we knew, we would have told you.”

“I see,” he mumbled, catching the tone the girl displayed easily. She was clearly worried but was also annoyed with him for some reason.“So then what should we do? You two are the experienced time travelers.”

“The _time_ we traveled were all on the _same_ planet,” Nadia explained. “Now we’re traveling planets and probably time at the same time.”

“So we’re _all_ new to this,” Crono added. “But if Epoch wanted us here, it must mean what we are searching for is close by. I guess we just have to look around and keep our eyes open for anything that doesn't fit.”

“That could be hard,” Bartz looked back out the glass. “We don't know what fits and doesn't fit on this planet.”

Crono opened the door for them. “It is easier than you think seeing something stand out in a new world or time, believe me. We might even be suspected in part of something in this world if we stick out too much. We just have to find others that do not fit in as much as we don’t. They should be the source of the anomaly.”

“Which means...?”

Nadia squared away her crossbow and followed after them. “It means we look for whatever is radiating with the same frequency of the anomaly. The device Lucca made from Bast should be able to scan for it or them.”

“Oh,” he said quietly as Crono turned the Epoch toy-sized and stuffed it into his pocket. The rain was freezing cold. He hunched against it. “So which way do we start?”

The red-headed lad pointed. “The first scan pointed due north. We should start heading in that direction and hope we set the tuner right.” as the two started walking, Bartz sighed. _I guess it all comes down to ‘hoping’, doesn’t it?_ He chased after them.

~∞~

The land did not transition much at all the longer they walked. They were overwhelmed by the rain and by violent rivers that all but took them with them down stream when they came crashing into turns too close to them.

Trees snapped and fell or otherwise combusted into flames whenever lightning hit it, revealing new growth instantly or lurking monsters. The ground was so thick and muddy that movement was too difficult for the group, and so they took a moment’s reprieve from the rain as soon as they could. Their salvation was a collection of palm trees knitted close enough together that they withstood the fierce wind and rushing water from higher hills or overfilled rivers.

Nadia was shivering, teeth chattering and lips blue. Bartz had tried to start a fire, but it ended poorly so Crono took off his thick, blue over shirt and gave it to her. He soon started to shiver but tried his best to ignore it.

By the time they were ready to move again, they were overrun by a pack of wolves, too hungry to pay their senses any proper attention. They snapped at their feet, yelped when hit, took off and then would repeat themselves until they were finally defeated or too injured to continue their assaults any longer.

They were making their way across a fragile, natural bridge of some of the local trees when Crono spotted something in the water moving toward them. Bartz was ahead of them, already on land, so when he saw it too he could do nothing but shout, “Watch out!” as the thing lunged out of the water for them.

It happened so quick that Crono reacted by throwing himself forward to avoid it as it flew over head, but the shockwave it created hitting the water again dislodged the bridge and Nadia went with it, flowing down stream faster than any of them could hope to swim.

She screamed in surprised and latched her arms around the loose log as she was violently thrown around. Crono crawled onto land and raced by Bartz to follow the stream down. Bartz knew he had to do something about the monster that was giving chase to the girl.

He ran into the water until it threatened to move him and started waving his arms about wildly to distract it. A giant tail flew out of the water and slapped the surface angrily at him, and then it went back for Nadia.

Crono caught her at a smaller junction in the river, where the water was channeled through a narrow break in the land. The tree caught in other collected material, stopping her. He reached out for her and grabbed her arm, yanking her to land just as the jaws of the monster lunged out of the water and snapped through the trees as if it were nothing more than a branch. They managed to move inland by a few feet before it crawled after them. It was a creature that looked like a gator but wooly and possessing a jaw that opened in half.

Nadia collapsed due to the mud and Crono nearly fell due to the shift of weight. His feet got stuck in the mud as well, but he turned halfway and unsheathed his sword to fight the thing off, or at least until Nadia could break free. That was all he cared about.

The creature’s long jaw flew toward him with immense speed. He lifted his sword slash at the jaw. It howled and back stepped, only to jump again and again, undaunted by the fight it was receiving, knowing full well the mud would tire its prey soon enough.

Crono knew he couldn’t use his magic, not in the rain and with Nadia so close to him and stuck as she was. It would kill or injure them too severely without the guarantee of even hurting the monster.

It lunged once more, broke through his defense and knocked him into the mud. He couldn’t get up or stop it from lunging at Nadia. It took her by the leg. She screamed and clawed madly at the mud for any holding, but her fingers went through it like snow and she was dragged towards the water.

 “Nadia!” he howled, rolling and fighting his position pathetically.

Bartz suddenly appeared, leapt over him and before he landed, unleashed a stream of wind that tore the ground like razors and struck the back of the creature, forcing it release its prey. The girl fell into the mud once more, face first, and tried to struggled up for air even as Bartz continued the assault.

He threw a clash of lightning at its face, forcing it back, but it didn’t seem to harm the thing for it rushed at him, snapping its jaws at him quickly and angrily. Its strength wasn’t going to be matched, he knew it, as he struggled to avoid its massive jaws and powerful slashes or head butts, and two of his best attacks that would work in the weather had no effect on it at all.

He back stepped, avoiding a slash, and his back his a slippery rock, causing his feet to slide under neath him and loosening his balance. He swung his arms out, caught a branch and used it to lift himself out of the way of a thrashing tail.

A crack of lightning momentarily stole the creature’s attention and Bartz used the moment to blindly unsheathe his sword climb up the thing’s hair side. It started thrashing about, throwing its head up and down, side to side, while it stamped the ground angrily. It bellowed a warning and he feared it was a reinforcements call, but there was nothing he could do while he held on for his life.

Finally his sword fell out of his hands into the mud and he was powerless. He could only hope that Crono and Nadia would be safe by the time this thing knocked him off so that they could run or fight together as a team.

As if answering his request, he saw Crono running toward them, sword drawn and eyes drawn in a furrow of rage. Nadia was behind him, lifting her bow and ready to discharge one of her arrows the second she could.

Knowing better than to remain, Bartz pushed away from the creature—which had just turned to face his new enemies—and Chrono leapt into the air. In the most perfect timing he had ever seen, Nadia fired her arrow and it pierced one of the creature’s eyes, blinding it to Crono’s attack.

A shadowy after-image of the boy trailed behind him in the sky until he brought his sword down through the beast’s head, cleaving it in two. The beast kicked one last time, knocking him nearly ten feet away, before slamming its body into the mud, dead.

Bartz laughed dryly before dropping into the mud to rest. A moment later the faces of Crono and Nadia appeared over head, covered head to toe in mud and frowning. They did not find it funny, it seemed. Crono held a hand out to him and helped him up.

“That was too close,” Nadia shuddered, clearly terrified.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Crono added. “It was impervious to multiple forms your magic, Bartz.”

“Some monsters will get ya like that,” he muttered.

“They aren’t mystics?”

“No,” he said, understanding very little of these ‘mystics’ from his stay in there world but knowing the biggest difference was intelligence and a sense of ‘self’. “Mystics could be considered closer to us than those things...they are just monsters.”

Nadia looked back at its carcass and then looked away quickly. “If this world is full of things like that, this is going to be very difficult.” Crono agreed with her quietly.

Bartz then knew they couldn’t go any longer without better means of defense. The beasts were just too plentiful and they too few and too ignorant of them to do anything. What could they do though? They had no means of educating themselves of the native monsters of World XII or even the world itself stuck in the middle of a rainforest and surrounding by perfectly murderous beasts.

He wiped water and mud from his face and turned north, where they had been going before the little attack and frowned. _It would be easier if they knew more than one kind of magic..._ but how could he begin to teach them? They needed access to spell tomes or similar, and he had none nor knew if this world even possessed them.

“Bartz?” Crono pressed. “We need to move.”

“Yea,” he mumbled, brushing mud off of himself. “But we cut through the trees. I don’t want to chance meeting another one of those things.” they all agreed on that and moved for the trees, cutting them down or parting them out of the way where they could.

The work was tedious and long, and by the time they cleared one part, the rain let up long enough for them to find shelter in what appeared to be an abandoned hut on a cliff over the water. Bartz gathered wood and sat the fire for them—once again finding their lack of more than one magical element inconvenient—and then set off to get them something to eat.

Luckily for him he was a master fishermen, he just needed the right tools. He pulled a branch from one of the wiry trees, took another and stripped it into fine strips. He set them aside and went to collect tangly, sticky plants by the river and then used it to tie the branches together, using the thin strips like string.

 _Let something in that water be edible,_ he thought dryly as he seated himself on the ledge and threw the line into the water. He occasionally glanced back at the hut to see if his younger friends were okay and eventually caught the two huddled together, asleep. He smiled. At least the day’s events didn’t scare them away from their rest.

When it was clear he was not going to catch anything without bait, he sat the makeshift fishing pole aside and watched the horizon. It was gray and fuzzy from where the storm moved onto and eerie in its darkness. Had they truly gone through that natural monster? Bartz shuddered at the thought of having to go through it again. The environment had made what should have been a relatively easy task deadly and treacherous.

He leaned over the ledge to glance into the water when something sparkling caught his eyes in the distance. He looked up and squinted to see what was moving over dry land further ahead of the direction they were taking. He put his hand over his eyes to block out the returning sun and gasped.

A line of what could be no other than chocobos were marching in unison, and what’s more, they were ridden by humans! Or at least, he hoped so, as the armor blocked out their shape too well to determine their species.

He got to his feet and dashed back to his comrades. “Wake up, wake up!” he shouted, shaking them. They woke quickly, mostly annoyed but also worried for the return of the wooly gators. “There are people!”

They chased after him to see and they jumped in joy at the sight, until Nadia frowned and said, “It will take us too long to catch up with them before they get out of view.”

Bartz’ enthusiasm deflated immediately. He hadn’t thought of that. “We have to try though.”

“We could try to signal them,” Crono suggested.

Nadia once again killed the mood with the obvious. “We don’t even know if they are friendly.” again Bartz’ deflated. “But we should track them. They may lead us to a town or city.”

“Or to the anomaly,” Crono said, smiling at her.

If Bartz hadn’t approved of their gushy, obvious love for each other, their constant giggling and smiling amongst themselves would have annoyed him. Luckily for him, it lifted his mood. He nodded. “You’re right; we shouldn’t just go after them.”

She looked after the people longingly though and sighed. “Should we go now, or wait until the rain clears?”

“Now,” he said. “The rain will clear away the tracks if we wait too long, anyways.” Crono went to the hut to get their things and then they set off down the cliff, grateful for the clearing of the rain even if it lasted for half an hour before returning with the same ferocity.

When he thought about the anomalies and how they were to track them, he laughed. They really did stick out like a sore thumb. _Talk about out of place things_ , Bartz thought as they descended the cliff.


	5. Not Phon

**Chapter IV:**

Not Phon

“I’m tellin’ ye I saw’s it here!” a sharp tongued bangaa shouted from a sand dune, gesturing ahead at the emptiness before him. At the doubtful remarks of his friends below him, he growled and stamped a foot. “I said it was so it was!”

“Jus’ like ya saw the queen last year, right?” another bangaa laughed from where he was squatting in the sand behind him. This one was pale gray with a missing eye and an angry look to him. The bangaa on the dune snorted and pointed to the emptiness and looked at the ring leader.

“I can prove it, Fa’bana!”

“You aren’t gonna prove nuthin’!” a pale red bangaa laughed from the right of Fa’bana. “You’s expect us to believe ya saw a...what was it again? A monster girl? Yer brain’s been fried!”

“That’s ‘cause I did!” he stamped his foot once more. “I saw’s it meself! With the other escapees! She’s was hume one moment then she wasn’t! I barely got away!”

The mention of the humes made Fa’bana stop his laughter with his company. He hated it when his pit fighters got away. The escape of his newest and most favorite to be betted on made him ill with anger. He smashed a fist into a nearby pillar of rock with a snarl. “I won’t hear yer fairy tales any longer Ba’gool! You cost me three heads!”

“We can get ‘em back and I can show’s ya the truth of it!” he said, bowing his head in what he hoped would still his boss’ anger and inflame his mercy. “The Rabanstre sentry picked ‘em up right after.”

Fa’bana crossed his thick, scarred arms over his bare chest. “Well now that there’s an interestin’ development!”

The red bangaa was surprised and looked at his leader. “If that’s true we know they headin’ to the capital, boss.”

Fa’bana grinned, revealing rows of sharp, perfect teeth. “Looks like we’re pickin’ a fight, boys.”

~∞~

They bumped along the mushy, uneven ground under the harsh wind and rain for what seemed like hours without stop. The soldiers did a masterful job at ignoring the unpleasant greeting of nature as if statues beneath their armor, but for their catch of three stuck in a roofless cell behind them, it was hell.

Terra had not yet awoken, but she trembled in the cold regardless. Randi was worried for her and the fact that she had not recovered from whatever it was she experienced in the slavers’ fighting pit, let alone the fatigue from what she had done against the lizardfolk.

And there was no gratitude felt from the blond in their small group, who felt more inclined to complain to their captors about the lack of space provided to be able to move about than keeping his mouth shut to avoid any further trouble. Randi knew it was anger that mostly fueled him though, and not courage or stupidity.

If it wasn’t for the fact that their captors were fully capable of defending them against the monsters that roamed around them—including a terrifying creature that leapt out of the rivers from time to time—Randi would have had nothing to feel grateful for.

Randi watched the soldiers carefully, hoping to catch the snippets of a discussion as to where they were being led, while Tidus banged and kicked at the cage’s door until one of the soldiers finally had enough and slowed his stead in order to face the young man. “If you should like to keep those hands, you will cease that immediately.”

Tidus’ answered him with a dark glare before stopping. When the soldier was gone, Randi looked over at him. “I don’t think it’s wise we antagonize them, Tidus.”

“I wasn’t,” he said with a small smile. He turned his palm up just enough to reveal he had snatched the cage’s keys. Randi was thoroughly impressed, but doubtful that they could open the locks from their side of the cage without getting the soldiers’ attention. “We just have to wait on Terra to wake and—”  
  
“I still think it is for the best if we wait and convince them that we aren’t slavers,” Randi cut in quickly, glancing through the bars at the two nearest men. “We don’t know how long we will be in this world. Do you want to spend it being potentially chased about as if we are guilty? Maybe they can even help us figure out what is going on.”

Tidus pocketed the keys with a small shake of his head. “I guess not,” he looked out at the direction they were heading. “but what happens if they don’t buy our stories?”

Randi wasn’t sure what to say. It was likely that if it came to that escape would be impossible, but he could not think on that. It would drive him insane. He also had no reason to suspect that whoever it was that was in charge would refuse to hear their side of the story and potentially be led to the real slavers and criminals, as well as their base of operations.  
  
So beyond a hope, it was incredibly risky, though now he wondered about how they would get away from the soldiers even if they had decided to escape. Their mounts were exceptionally fast, faster than any of them could ever run.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted after a moment. “I just know the chance is better than being skewered by one of these soldiers for a crime we didn’t commit by running away.” that seemed to be enough for Tidus at the moment, because he accepted it without complaint.  
  
“I think we’re close to wherever we are going, at least,” Tidus offered a moment later, pointing ahead. “Do you see that, in the distance? Think it’s the castle we saw earlier, in the desert?”

Randi shifted onto his knees and then pulled himself closer to the left most side of the cage using the bars, to follow the direction his new friend was pointing to. When he squinted his eyes he could see a dark shape rising far into the sky, a shape that could not be natural. It was certainly some ways off from them, from what he could judge, but close enough that Randi knew they would be on it by the end of the day if the birds kept up their current pace.  
  
The visibility was too poor to tell if it was the same structure they saw earlier, but he nodded. “I see it, but I can’t really tell what it is. At least we won’t have to wait very long though.”

The cage suddenly jostled forward as it came to a quick and hard stop. Tidus bounced up, hitting the bars while Randi flew back into the bars, hitting his shoulder. Terra luckily only rolled into the bars.

 _Now what’s going on_ , Randi thought, trying to see in front of them. About a hundred yards away from them a small waystation was tucked under the protection of a giant slab of rock and walled in at almost every corner by untamed bramble and trees. The only road Randi could see went through the waystation.

“What’s happening?” Tidus demanded, which resulted in the nearest soldier slamming the butt of his spear into the bars with a bark to quiet down and then he sped off towards the front of the group. “I don’t like this.”

Randi didn’t either. Something was off and he wasn’t entirely sure it was because of the waystation. Something in the air just felt wrong. The intangible bickering of the soldiers in front of them made Tidus lean over and whisper to him.

“We should have gotten out when we had the chance.” Randi went a little pink. Perhaps he was right.

“I said be quiet!” the soldier returned with his spear raised and a threatening scowl on his face. “I won’t repeat myself to you, scum! The next time I will have one of your hands.”  
  
“That’s enough, soldier,” a voice barked from the front of them. The soldiers immediately fell into formation, as stiff as statues. A tall man clad in silver and red armor walked into the sight of the cage with his helm tucked between the crook of his arm. At his side was another soldier, though he looked no more than a frightened pup.  
  
The man’s dark green eyes focused on them, without any indication of his state of mind. His dark red hair was oiled and braided down the length of his neck and was tied tight with silk ribbons of a rich red shade.

Randi realized it was their commanding office—someone with power and authority. Someone that would, hopefully, listen to them. One of the soldiers was quickly called to him to report. “We were on duty in the Westersand when a scout spotted the Phantom’s Corpse. We found them,” he gestured to the cage. “among the slavers we brought down.”

“Is that so?” the commander said, turning quietly on his boots and approaching the cage without a change on his face. Tidus tensed when he stopped in front of them. When the man’s eyes went over Terra, battered, soaked and unconscious, his expression shifted into anger and surprise. “Open this cage, soldier!”

“Ser?” the soldier looked utterly lost, and afraid. Randi couldn’t understand what was going on. Did this man know just by looking at them that they were not slavers?

At the soldier’s hesitation the commander gestured to Terra. “The Phantom’s Corpse does not recruit women! Now open this damn cage!” the soldier went flush and reached for his keys only to realize they were not there. “Ser! The keys…! They are gone!”

The commander looked at the cage, over Randi and then Tidus and sighed. “Hand them over.” he held his hand out towards Tidus and for half a moment Randi was so impressed he did not realize just how stealing the keys to their cage could be taken. When he did, he grimaced. They were losing more and more ground for their innocence plea by the moment.

Tidus refused to move though, so Randi had to reach over and touch his shoulder. “Do what he says.” with a scoff, he flung the keys through the bars at the commander’s feet. The nearby soldier went red with anger and indignation before he knelt to retrieve them.

Ignoring the childish tactic, the commander crossed his arms. “I would like to know when the Phantom’s Corpse started recruiting boys to do their dirty work.” his gaze was on Randi.

For a hot moment he wanted to spit his prickled pride back at the commander before he cooled back down. “Like we told your men, we are not slavers. This is all a misunderstanding.”

“We shall see,” he simply said. “You will live and face the proper justices for your crimes—or, live freely, if you are innocent—but until then I will not tolerant any disobedience or attempts at escape. The moment I so much as think you are planning to escape I will not hesitate to cut you down. Is that clear?” he took their angered silence as a ‘yes’. “Good. Now I would appreciate it if you two played nice so we can get the lady out safely and tend to her injuries.” a moment later the soldiers drew their spears out into a protective circle around the cage while the fidgety one opened the cage. Tidus leaned forward, as if meaning to jump the man, before with a swear he leaned back into the bars.

As soon as the men had Terra safely out of the cage, they immediately slammed the doors and relocked them. They handed the keys back to the fidgety soldier and the commander frowned at her condition. “Tend to the lady’s wounds first, and then set the wagons for departure. We shall leave as soon as she is in condition to make the journey safely.”

The fidgety soldier saluted. “Yes, ser!” but as the young soldier turned to complete his duties, arrows started raining down on them from the direction they had come. As calm as he was before, the commander faced the direction of the assault and issued his men to take cover as the arrows soared passed his face and chest.

Randi tried to peak through the bars at the enemies but the view was obscured by the rain and trees. Tidus was busy once again trying to break the cage door open but could not. “Let us out!” he yelled to the soldiers scurrying about for cover and line of sight on their foes. The commander deflected an arrow by lifting his sword.

“Captain, get that cage to cover right now!”

“Yes, commander!” the fidgety one returned, though his face was pale like milk and his body was trembling. He climbed into the front of the wagon and forced the startled chocobos to move with a quick whip of the reins. The hastiness of the speed was uneven and jostled the two in the cage about painfully into the sides and roof of the cage until at last the entire back of the cart was covered by the waystation.

As the fidgety captain ran around the cage to rejoin the fight, Tidus lunged through the bars to grab at the exposed fabric of his uniform, stopping him. “You can’t leave us here like this! We’re the ones they’re after!”

The soldier looked at him to the men fighting, unsure. “I can’t let you out...” Tidus gritted his teeth. “You needn’t worry regardless—one way or another, the commander will have us all arrive at the city alive.” and then the captain hurried off.

Randi couldn’t think. _What to do next? Tidus is right...we should have left when we had the chance_ —just then Tidus faced him with a cocky smile and then revealed the keys. He looked at his sunbaked friend with a laugh. “When did you take those?”

“Just now,” he said, twirling the keys. “The kid really oughta pay attention more.” and then he reached out of the bars for the lock.

“That’s some quick thinking Tidus,” he said as the door swung open and the lock fell to the ground in a wet thud. One by one they dropped into the mud outside and then Tidus threw the keys into the brambles and did the same with the lock towards another direction. Randi didn’t have to ask. If they were to be recaptured, it was a wise decision to ensure they were given another chance to get away without the added difficulty of a cage.

“Let’s get Terra and go!” Tidus dashed towards one of the wagons and tore the sheet of cloth at the back open. Nothing. He went to the next wagon and found nothing again. “She’s not here!”

Randi glanced around but could not see any more wagons. Then his eyes set upon the waystation. “She must be inside!” he rushed by Randi first, kicking the door in. Inside, Terra was indeed lying on a small slab covered with blankets and furs, but two men had been tending to her injuries. They clearly were not soldiers, at least it was not recognizable by their uniforms or by the way that they were so startled by them.

“Get away from her,” at the young man’s order, the two stepped back with their hands up. Randi looked closely at their surroundings, hoping to spot something they could use as weapons, but the room seemed awfully empty for a soldiers’ waystation.

Tidus laid a hand on Terra’s forehead before he lifted her into his arms. “I’ve got her, let’s go!” as soon as they were through the doors though something hard rammed into Tidus’ side and threw him into the mud. Terra landed hard on her side and arm. Randi barely had the time to turn to see what it was before something smashed into his chest and threw him into the frame of the waystation door.

When he struggled to his knees, wheezing as the breath had been knocked out of him, he saw two of those lizard creatures standing in front of them. How did they get through the soldiers’ defenses so quickly?!

Tidus was up quickly though, facing the things with every inch of his anger masking his face. One of the lizards lifted his sword to point at him. “Don’t tink ye can git anway, boy, jus’ sit back and be a good lil’ slave.”

“Like hell I will,” he snarled and dashed towards the lizard. Randi stumbled back to his feet and lunged into the fight too, though he knew their desperate attacks would only get them killed it was all that they could do.

Randi ducked to avoid a swing of the other lizard’s mace and then rammed his shoulders into the creature’s chest. The lizard budged only a few inches before grabbing him by the arms and slinging him aside as if he were nothing more than a ragdoll. Tidus was kept at a distance from the sword wielder. Every time he tried to assault, the ugly thing swung at him. Randi dared a glance at his friend. _We’re getting no where! If we don’t get out of here now…_

Tidus must have realized the same thing, for he leapt at his attacker with new resolve, ducked to avoid a swing, rolled to the right to avoid another and then quickly sprung back to his feet to lunge at the lizard. He tackled him to the mud and struggled to get the sword out of his hands.

Randi tried to go to him but his own attacker jumped in the way. “Pays yer attention ta me, boy!”

He gritted his teeth. _If I had a sword, a spear...anything!_ He took a step back as the grotesque lizard approached. _This isn’t where it ends, not here, not now!_ He took Tidus’ example and charged with everything he had. The lizard snickered and meant to clobber his head had it not been for the arrow that shot through the air and impaled into the lizard’s neck.

He dropped his mace to block the blood spurting out of the wound but fell to the ground in an agonizing wheeze until his last breath left him. Without any time to think, Randi reached for the discarded mace and turned to help Tidus.

The two were on their feet again, and the lizard had his friend at length again, forcing him further back with each swing. Randi ran forward, mace raised to swing at the lizard’s head, but a chocobo charged in front of him, blocking his path. Randi stumbled back at the suddenness of the soldier’s arrival and fell into the mud. Three more men were on him then, preventing him from reaching for the mace again.

Tidus was at the other lizard’s mercy then, as the young man was blocked up against the bricked wall of the waystation. The lizard swung with the intent to kill. Before the blade could make contact, the commander intercepted the strike and struck the slaver without hesitation, shoving his sword straight through the creature’s chest. The Bangaa let out a weak wheeze before falling to his fatal wounds.

Tidus blinked dumbly at his rescuer before realizing what it meant. He leapt for the discarded sword but the knight was too quick. A heavy iron boot smashed down on the blade and then he lifted his weapon to the base of Tidus’ throat.

“Please my young fellow, do not test my patience,” he said, lifting the blade until it brought Tidus’ face up into the rain. “The enemy is routed and your escape foiled. I should think you know better than to try and run now, of all times.”

Randi dug himself free of the mud as the rest of the knights—all of them untouched but muddied—took to a circle around them. It filled him with dread to realize that the Bangaas’ attempt to retrieve their lost possessions looked a lot like a failed rescue, but had they not seen what happened? Those things were clearly trying to kill them!

“You think they were trying to rescue us?” the man’s eyes held Randi’s for a second before moving away. “They tried to kill us!”

“We’re not slavers!” Tidus hissed. “Now get that damn thing away from my throat!”

The commander smiled, his pale eyes brightened with amusement. He lowered his sword and then swiftly stored it within its scabbard. “I shall do as you so kindly requested of me.” the mocking tone did not go unnoticed. “If I were to give a guess as to why your friends wished for your death, I would say it was that you know something you should not while in royal custody.”

“We’re not—” Tidus was quickly cut off.

“Slavers, yes, I know,” the commander said with a puff of irritation. “That much was clear the moment that Bangaa tried to decapitate you. If you were of Phantom’s Corpse, you would have taken your own lives the moment you were free of your cage. It leaves me in a puzzle, this.”

Randi said, “Then now that you know we are innocent, let us go.”

“Innocent?” he repeated with a furrow of his brows. “I acknowledge you are not slavers, at least not slavers of Phantom’s Corpse, but I do not see any evidence that points towards your innocence. Not yet, at least.”

“You condemn us without evidence just as well, though,” Randi said, frustrated.

“Under the authority of the queen, the region of Westersand you three were found on is forbidden land. It is against our laws that you crossed them without permission or a trade permit, thus you are not innocent. How much so in terms of your guilt though we shall yet see.”

“Look, pal, we don’t know what your—” Tidus bit back something he was going to say. “We were just trying to escape!”

The commander looked at him squarely for a moment before turning on heel to locate something else. When his eyes found Terra lying in the mud, he looked back at him. “Perhaps you are telling me the truth of it, but you must come to understand that I have a duty to perform. You were caught breaking a law we hold very seriously and without evidence of your reasons or your claims, I cannot just let you go.” he knelt to check on Terra for a moment before standing again. “If you are innocent you will have your chance to prove it. The longer you fight me and my command though, the more ground you give the Phantom’s Corpse to come after you again.” he ushered for a man to pick Terra up. “And I doubt by the way you two have fought to protect yourselves and this lady from them that  you wish for that. So I will ask you kindly to allow us to escort you back to Rabanstre to sort this out properly.” he waited for an answer for a moment before he added, “If you do, I will keep you out of a cage. You may ride in the back with your friend.”

It sounded reasonable enough to Randi, but what would Tidus think? He looked to his friend and saw that his jaw was set hard. He was angry. _Come on, think it through,_ he thought, hoping the young man would see it was the best they would get from their situation. Finally Tidus lowered his head, accepting the deal.

The commander nodded. “You made a wise decision. Captain, captain?” he looked around, agitated. “Where is the captain?” the fidgety soldier appeared quickly at his commander’s side. “Please have the wagons prepared for our departure. I want to be rid of this place before any more rats crawl out of hiding.” he gestured for Randi and Tidus to follow him to one of the wagons where the soldiers had laid Terra across a thick bed of furs. “Do not make me regret this.” he warned them as they climbed into the back.

As the commander left, the captain appeared at the back of the wagon with two soldiers. Randi knew that they were not going to be permitted their wagon luxury without an armed set of guards, but he had hoped…

The captain and the two soldiers sat at the entrance of the back, weapons drawn and wary eyes placed on them. Randi tried not to think about them when he leaned forward to talk to Tidus, whom he had noticed had been concerned only for Terra. “She will be alright, I’m sure of it.” He said nothing. Randi knew that whatever happened to him and Terra, it created a powerful bond. He wasn’t worried about himself, or their situation. Only her. _What happened to them in there?_ He wondered, suddenly a little sick to his stomach at the ideas that sprang to his head. Feeling useless against his new friend’s worry, he said it again, hoping his voice was firmer than the last. “She _will_ be fine, Tidus.”

“Yea,” he whispered. The anger he had displayed towards the others could no longer be seen on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tidus is so hard for me to write. Ugh. I'll promise to keep trying at his belovedly cheerful but serious character. If you have some points...do share! Also, we're getting close to Rabanastre guys. You can almost feel the pickpockets nabbing your gil pouches already! 
> 
> Anyways, that's it for this chapter. The next one is being written right now. Enjoy and thank you so much for the support you have been giving! It means a lot! :)
> 
> P.S  
> Yes, I gave Randi his real name. After much thought, I decided it fit him better and was just cooler.


	6. Of the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's happening! It's happening! Secret of Mana, one of the greatest RPGs ever greated, is being remade for console and PC! It is now in 3D graphics, with voice acting, reworked sound track, upgraded battle mechanics etc. If you want to know more, just google "Secret of Mana remake" and you'll see! I'm so pumped for this guys! Randi is getting a fresh take on his wonderful adventure, hopefully with all of the cut content too!
> 
> Who else is excited?! hahaha
> 
> Anyway, onto the chapter and sorry for the delay!

Chapter V:  
  
Of the Shadows

  
There was something about this planet that resonated with him more than the other planets he had sped by in search of Crono. Somehow it felt like it was his own. He would look at the trees, at the sky and even at the monsters and think of home. Of camping out in the wilds, of speeding through deserts on Boko or even before the merge, exploring the oddly mirrored life of the strange home world of Galuf and Krile.

It made him wonder on what his two companions had seen in their travels. They seemed too versed in the strangeness that laid around them, accepting what changes they saw with little difficulty. He knew it meant they had seen things, things so strange or emotionally jarring, that nothing else would surprise them.

As they descended a rocky cliff, clinging desperately to the rocks under the torrent of rain and wind, he had to chide himself. He would have time to pester them with questions later. For now the quest the Crystals gave him—that Gaspar gave him—was of utmost importance.

Beside him to the right and temporarily standing on a ledge barely wider than two feet was Nadia. She was huddled tight against the rock and pointing Bast in every which direction, hoping to get a signal other than her own.

“Anything yet?” Crono shouted from below. He managed to safely make it to the ground before they could. And hour prior, they had been following the anomalies until they came across a bridge, or rather what was left of it, as it sunk under water too deep and too violent to cross. They had to double around to the cliffs and pass over the weakest portion of the river.

Nadia grumbled under her breath and swiped at the screen again, hoping to catch a clearer glance at the gauge. “I don’t know...I think it is only picking up my signal.”

“Hand it over, I’ll test it,” he shouted back and a second later, before Bartz could utter a word, she dropped it down to him. He caught it quickly. He fiddled with it for a moment and pointed it about. As the other two climbed down beside him, it only buzzed quietly, until he pointed Bast to the north. The gauge’s needle sparked up, turning red and the buzzer rang out like a harsh cry. “I think I found the anomaly’s trail.”

Bartz held a hand over his eyes to keep the rain out and stared out in the direction the device was pointing. “Perhaps our friends headed to that city in the distance?” the one they passed seemed so far away that it seemed illogical their anomaly was heading to it, further back south.

“It looks like a mountain,” Nadia whispered, a tad frightfully.

Crono handed it back to her and looked at Bartz. “How far do you think we are?”

Bartz said, “It is hard to say in this rain but on foot...maybe two days if we don’t get turned around much.”

“That’s too long,” he muttered.

“Yes, it is,” he admitted softly. “We should have tried to land the ship closer.”

“And risk getting seen?” Nadia asked. “How could we explain that? What if it interfered with the world?”

Bartz knew the young woman wasn’t trying to gnaw at his patience, but something just seemed to tug at them regardless. “They seem to already possess flying technology,” he gestured to the sky, though nothing could be seen, he was referring to what they saw when they first came to the planet. “It isn’t like they’ll instantly know it is a time traveling," he thought for a moment. "spaceship.”

Crono laughed and separated them. “Alright, fighting won’t get us anywhere...” Nadia hmpf’d and turned her face away. “Let’s get back to the trail, assuming it isn’t already gone.”

“Why bother? We know they’re headed to the city.”

Bartz answered her, “because they might not have made it there yet, or they could have turned another direction. We can’t say for sure that’s where they are going.”

“Then let’s go,” Crono urged, slushing his way through the waist high river. He paused to look back at them. “That river could become impassable any second. Hurry up!”

Bartz glanced over at the girl and then gestured ahead. “Ladies first.” she glared before hurrying along.

When they were all safely across and digging through way through thorny bramble to locate the road they had been trying to follow, Nadia took out Bast and continued their search. It was difficult for her to place the origins of the signal due to her own interference, but eventually it lead them back on a muddy trial heading directly north.

“They definitely came through here,” she said, eyes still glued to the device. Bartz knelt to inspect the tracks on the road. They were definitely cart tracks, though they seemed much older due to the rain and wind.

“What do you think the anomaly is?” she asked after a moment, when the other two lead her forward. “Maybe it is a weapon...”

“Maybe,” Bartz muttered, though he was doubtful, or rather hopeful, that wasn't the case.

“It could just be a relic of another world that is distorting this place,” Crono said. “Our job might be relatively simple, then.”

“Things aren’t ever really that simple, though,” said Bartz before he suddenly bumped right into Crono. Intending to chew the young lad out for stopping so suddenly, he grabbed Crono by the arm and turned him around so he could properly yell at him when he saw what had caused Crono and his lady friend to stop and stare.

The small clearing ahead of them was a bloodbath. Corpses of humans and other more monstrous things lingered about the field in pools of blood. Across from the dead was a brick building built tight against a slab of rock, where the only visible road cut straight through as a choke point.

Nadia’s eyes, once glued to the screen of Bast, was now wide in shock at the scene before them. She turned it off blindly, awed through fear. Bartz had seen things like this before, so it didn’t shock him as much, but it was unsettlingly to him for another reason.

The massacre was not the responsibility of some monster, some creature, but something sentient. A human or something they hadn’t encountered just yet.

Distraught with grim thoughts that the people they were following did this, Bartz walked ahead of the others to inspect the nearest corpse. It was some humanoid lizard. His fatal injury was an arrow through his left eye, though two more littered his chest and abdomen.

Nadia covered her mouth as Crono leaned down to close the eyes of a nearby human. “They aren’t monsters...”

Bartz rose quietly. “No...I don’t think they are monsters.”

“So no chance they were just...” he stopped himself, realizing it was useless to even voice. “Do you think the people we are following did this?”

Bartz looked around. “I don’t know. They,” he gestured to the dead. “could be the people we were following.”

Nadia went ahead, stopping only to look back at them. “Look,” she said and they both hurried over to see what the matter was. She knelt to point at something in the mud. Tracks. “The wagon went through here...”

“Then the dead here carry a deeper, darker secret,” Bartz mumbled. “I don’t think we should linger here any longer. If the anomalies did this, they have already moved on and we have to find them. If something else did, they could return.”

A wheezing laugh caught their attention. Startled, they readied their weapons and searched the field of fallen for the source of the noise. Lying near the building was one of the lizards. He was leaning against the brick wall, clutching at one of five arrows dug into his chest and abdomen.

“So’s...yer afta ‘em, too...” hesitantly they neared, and again he laughed. What was there to fear from a dying soul, after all? Before they could get any closer, Bartz stopped them. It was still unsure what the inhabitants of this world could do, even on the verge of death.

The lizard’s eyes were pale with death, and the shallowness of his breath showed that he would not survive his wounds for much longer. When his eyes went over Crono, they widened in shock and anger. “You!” he tried to lunge at him, but his body gave out and he collapsed into the wall with a bloody wheeze. “The boss’ll get ye...the boss’ll….” his words died in an effort to breathe easier but it was too much for him. The last of his breath left him.

Bartz frowned. “He seemed to recognize you, Crono.”

“How?” he asked, brows furrowed. “I’ve never even been to this place before.”

Nadia shuddered as she glanced around. “Whatever it was, it doesn’t feel right.”

Quietly he agreed and reached out to close the dead lizard’s eyes. There was a look about the field that settled wrong in his stomach. It was clearly an ambush, but he wasn’t sure by looking at the corpses around him that the lizard creatures were the ones caught off guard. The direction of the movements in the mud, the arrows and wounds...they charged. And failed.

 _Whoever fought them back must be exceptionally skilled_ , he thought, standing. Nadia and Crono went to check for other survivors but could not find a single living soul. Bartz doubted any of the ones who had charged survived. Things rarely worked out that way, after all.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Nadia turned Bast on and point it around. At first it remained quiet, unresponsive, but as she turned it towards the tracks it once again went haywire. Turning it towards the waystation gave the same result.

Crono approached the waystation first, followed closely by the others. Carefully Bartz reached for his sword, a little nervous, as the red-headed boy kicked the door open.

The waystation was just a single room, large and outfitted with dozens of shelves, tables and desks. There was a singular window at the back of the room overlooking yet another rushing river and a huge black crystal. At the center of the room was a wide stone slab table with a furs thrown over it. Scattered around the table and lying on the floor were what looked like discarded medical supplies. It was clear that the place was not abandoned, not fully.

Crono crept in cautiously, leading Nadia who had Bast still searching for signals. The detection was still going wild, but they could not find the source yet.

Bartz slid his sword back into its scabbard and looked around. “I don’t think we need Bast to tell us they were here.”

“No, we don’t,” Nadia agreed just as she scanned over the slab with the furs on it. “however, we need to take an an—” The device’s screen turned red and the needle stayed at the furthest reach of the gauge. The noise it made pierced them to their bones.

Bartz covered his ears. “We get it, turn it off already.”

Nadia glanced at him. “It won’t let me.” just as she was about to hand it over so he could try, it shut off and the screen turned solid black. Quietly they stared at the device in her hands for a second, not quite sure what had happened but equally confused and nervous.

Crono took it out of her hands and looked it over. “Maybe it broke...”

“Lucca’s things don’t just break...not like that at least.” she said, taking it back. “There wasn’t even a puff of smoke.”

As the two discussed the device, Bartz went to inspect the furs closely. They were almost pristine, except for a spot at the north end of the table where there were decent sized splotches of blood. He touched it and then looked at them.

“Nadia...see if you can turn it back on. I think I know why it went crazy.”

She pressed the button to turn it on, but it would not respond. With a frown, she smacked it against her palm and then pressed the button a few more times. It started with a weak beep and then quickly started beeping frantically over the signal in the room, though not as strangely as it had before it died.

“Okay, point it at my hand,” he instructed, holding his finger out. As soon as it faced the bloodied finger, it went crazy again. Nadia quickly turned it away and shut it off. “So that’s it...our answer.”

Crono frowned. “That means...that means what we are looking for is...”

“Is alive,” Nadia whispered.

“And hurt,” Bartz added quietly.

“From the battle outside?” the young man asked.

“Maybe,” he mumbled. “Whatever it was that hurt the person isn’t what matters. What matters is that we know the second anomaly we can account for is a person too.”

Crono said, “What if all the anomalies are alive?”

Nadia considered it quietly for a moment. “That could mean that our objective could be as simple as picking them up and dropping them off at their worlds...or timelines.”

“It won’t be simple whatsoever,” Bartz wiped his finger against the furs. “Even if that is true and we somehow managed to collect them all, how do we know where they came from? How would we figure out how to get there? I’m going to assume most of them have no idea that there exists other worlds and wouldn’t know where their planet is for us to track down.”

Nadia hadn’t considered that at all. Their old methods and Epoch didn’t have to find worlds, but timelines and that was preconfigured into the system for them already. However, the Epoch Bartz arrived with was different. It was as if it was completely remade.

“Is there any possibility the Epoch was configured to do just that?”

Bartz shrugged. “You two know that thing better than I do. You can go over it when we get the anomaly.”

Crono said, “We should consider flying the Epoch out to get the anomaly. I know we have to remain undiscovered so we don’t alter the world any but in this storm I doubt anything on this planet would be able to catch sight of us.”

“I think we should continue on without it,” Nadia said and the two started to argue over their next course of action. Bartz listened to them for a moment, until something caught his attention. A dull sound, from outside. It did not sound like the winds rushing through the trees or the sound of the rushing water, but something alive—something sentient.

Quickly, he grabbed Crono by the shoulder and squeezed to get his attention. The young man faced him with a dark look in his eyes, meaning to chew him out, but he caught the look and quieted. He was released a second later, for Bartz lifted a finger to his lips. Nadia stashed Bast into her pouch and fumbled for her weapon, suddenly nervous. Being in such a strange place would take time to get used to, as it had always been for her.

As Bartz quietly approached the nearest window to peak out, Crono unsheathed his katana. This time they all heard the noises that caught the young adventure’s attention. Nadia lifted her crossbow to aim at the door, waiting, breath caught.

The noises grew quiet a moment later, returning the sounds to the howling wind and creaking trees. Crono relaxed and lowered his katana; Nadia followed. Bartz parted the window’s heavy curtains an inch or two to peek outside. Beyond the sights they saw arriving, the only addition was a fierce down pour. He let the curtain drop and faced them. “We need to go. Now.” he led them out through quickened steps, glancing around their surroundings, afraid of the feeling that rested in his gut.

“I think we’re alone,” Crono said to him, following after him with an expression of worry. “Bartz, did you hear me?”

And then Bartz heard it. It was like a gentle crack in the air, and quickly accompanied by a raise in pressure around them. The soles of his feet felt the vibration last but as soon as he felt it he turned with a shout and shoved Crono and Nadia out of the way. The ground exploded upward from under their feet, throwing him hard into the rock slab situated beside the building.

As rocks, mud and water rained down around them, Bartz was struggling up to his feet. His head felt like someone had used it as a punching bag and his ears were ringing, and he felt wetness down the length of his neck, but even still he tried to stay on his feet—to push himself into awareness to fight.

Ten yards ahead of him Nadia and Crono were already up, having faced less of the attack than he did. He stumbled to his hands and knees only several feet from where he had fallen but forced himself back up just as his hearing returned.

“To the left!” Crono shouted, no doubt a warning to Nadia. Bartz shook his head, to shake the weakness out of him, and caught sight of a line of enemies to their far left among the cliffs and bramble. To answer the warning, Nadia twirled on one foot and shot one bolt towards the cliff.

Upon contact, it exploded in ice, freezing several of their attackers but otherwise preventing them from attacking from their height. They hurried out of sight a second later, but they all knew it was not the last of them and that as soon as the ice gave way or weakened, they would be back.

Crono turned and saw Bartz. He hurried up to help him up straight. “Bartz! Are you okay? Can you walk?”

“Yea,” he muttered, grimacing at the pain in his neck. “Are you two okay?”

“We’re perfectly fine, thanks to you.” he replied, helping him sit down for a moment. “How did you know?”

There was no time to answer him though, and even if there was, he would spend it escaping rather than explaining. Nadia saw more enemies arrive at the cliff. “They’re back!”

Bartz pushed Crono’s hands away and got to his feet and fumbled at his belt for his sword. “I am not going to be the the only person you two met that can use multiple forms of magic, so be careful. They have a powerful mage with them. He has to be our priority right now!”

Nadia placed her eyes on their enemy with a coolness that blew away the worry that had been in them just seconds ago. Crono quickly took up a perfect position at her side, as if practiced, and lifted his katana.

The enemies charged them from the cliffs and bramble, in a screaming wave of anger and blood lust. Humans and lizards alike slashed at them or poked or swung from the saddles of their great chocobos, missing only because their enemies’ reflexes were too quick. More and more of them came until the field was too crowded for any hopes of escape.

So far though the mage that had attacked them did not appear, or was just watching from afar. Bartz wasn’t sure that was good. It could mean a hundred different things, such as the enemy playing with them or meaning to take them alive.

Crono effortlessly batted away enemies that got too close. Nadia was busy trying to keep the cliffs assaulted to prevent even more enemies from piling up on them, but her ice spells didn’t seem to delay their entrance much at all.

Bartz tried to keep their rear and flank protected but it was becoming more and more difficult with each passing second. The space between them and the enemy was not good to use magic for either, not at least any spell that could actually help them.

He deflected a jab from a pikesman for the third time in a row before turning to stop one of their swordsman from lopping off Nadia’s right arm. Crono back stepped and broke another lizard’s pike in half a moment later before they all were forced into a tight circle, back to back.

“Step back!” Bartz warned, but it was too late. Two of the enemies attacked at once, pushing Crono and Bartz apart from Nadia. The opening they created was exploited immediately.

A fat thing of red lunged at Nadia with a sword, swiping up in an arch. She stumbled back to avoid the strike but was still too close. The blade tore across her left shoulder. She fell into the mud with a muffled cry of pain. Crono screamed and threw himself into the fray without thought, batting off the foes desperately.

“Stay together!” Bartz howled over the clash of steel and the warks of chocobos, but within seconds the young man disappeared into the crowd of enemies for Nadia.  
  
_Damn it!_ Bartz turned to avoid a jab from a swordsman and then shrugged his way passed two men who had their back turned to him for an opening. It meant leaving the others alone for the moment and it hung on him like a weight, but he knew they had no chance without magical intervention.

When he was clear, he side stepped to avoid a man charging him from his saddle, twirled quickly on one foot again to face the enemies and then lifted a hand. His ears rang from the spell and from the energy rushing into him.

_Come on...come on!_

A great mud wall tore out of the ground, making a sound so wretched it forced the battlefield’s occupants to cover their ears or shrink away in pain. Mud and rocks rained down upon even Nadia and Crono, though it was of no real threat. The benefit was that the wall created a buffer between the enemy and his friends, though hundreds of lizards and humans were still trapped on the other side of the wall with his friends. He hoped it would be enough relief for them to give him time to find the mage.

Wasting no more time, he fought his way through the enemies northward, towards the cliffs where the enemy originated from. The ice Nadia had created was nearly melted away, though the bodies instead were no longer alive. A dozen archers were camped around the ice, raining as many arrows as they could upon Nadia and Crono. They didn’t seem to care for the casualties on their side.

Angered, Bartz rushed the cliffs. One archer saw him and fumbled for his dagger. IN a flash of steel Bartz lopped his hand off and shoved him over the side of the cliff. As the lizard’s body crashed into the mud and rocks below, the other archers finally caught sight of him. They turned their sights on him instantly.

A flurry of arrows flew towards him. He dashed for the melting ice and threw himself against it. In loud cracks arrows pelted the ground around him, bouncing off the ice in loud pops. He squeezed his eyes shut, praying that no stray arrow would make his untimely end, until at last it was over.

He jumped to his feet just as the archers were readying another onslaught. It took have a second to consider the best spell to use and a second longer to cast it, but as the cliff slipped away towards the battlefield, he hurried onward. The archers’ screams lasted only a second, replaced by the wails and shouts of surprise from those below him.  
  
There was no sight of the mage though. He turned to face the battlefield and tried to locate the one standing aside from the main force, but there was nothing except the horrid sight of hundreds and hundreds of enemies and the terrifying sound of angry howls of the scum below and the freezing rain blasting against them.

Panic gripped him, because he knew his new friends would not survive the battle for much longer. The wall would soon meet the end of its usefulness, for the sheer numbers of their foe was just too great.

The sight of his friends being overwhelmed was too much. In that moment he forgot the rules of their planetary and time traveling escapades and built up the energy to make a summon. In a flash of brilliant light, the battlefield quieted, in fear and surprise. The clouds split open above them and charging out from its dark depths came a dragon the color of steel and lavender.

For a moment the enemies stared, until the dragon raced over head and roared. It’s cry shook even the ground and it was then that the enemies tried to flee. The dragon raced back up into the clouds, under Bartz’s mental orders, and then dove back down at the crowd.

In another flash, a violent torrent of water crashed into the enemies, driving a wedge between them and Nadia and Crono. It circled back around and repeated the pattern until the enemies were forced out of the way.

Bartz struggled to maintain the connection. Come on, get out of there! Nadia was halfway out of the thick of it, just twenty or thirty meters away from the cliffs, but Crono was slowed down by the daring of the enemies. He was meaning to keep Nadia protected until she made it to cover.

“Crono! Get out of there!” but the young lad could not hear him. He drove back two and swung at an angle towards another, either too lost in the fight to realize he had an opening to flee or having not noticed it at all.

A moment later Nadia was beside Bartz, but she did not hesitate. She brought up her crossbow, aimed and fired. A large bolt crashed a good fifty feet in front of Crono and exploded into a thousand ice shards.

It was enough to catch his attention. He slashed at one last enemy, turned swiftly on his heel and took off. The enemies gave chase, unaware that the dragon was racing toward them, avoiding arrows and spears alike.

Just as the dragon opened its mouth to release another violent torrent, a bolt of lightning struck it. It flailed through the sky for half a second before it vanished into a puff of smoke. With the spell released, Bartz collapsed to his knees, panting. He hadn’t held a summon that long in ages! He had forgotten how painful and draining it could be, but that was no the worst of his worries—the mage had resurfaced and he didn’t get to see where the direction of the spell came from.

He couldn’t feel the rain pelting his skin or how cold it was. He couldn’t even feel Nadia’s fingers digging into his arm as she tried to drag him away from the edge of the cliff. His ears were ringing fiercely and his limbs felt like noodles.  
  
A moment later Crono was running toward them. He knelt to try and help Bartz to his feet but he man staggered back into the mud.

“Get up!” he heard him scream. Bartz tried and tried again. “Bartz we have to move now!” he glanced over his soldier and then twirled around to face the approaching enemies. Nadia was still kneeling beside him, yanking on his arm as if to wake him from some slumber.

No. He realized this feeling was not normal. It never persisted this long before, it never felt so...so close to death. Was this world truly that different when it came to magic, or did he miscalculate his spell? His energy?

“Bartz, please! Stand up now!” but he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried, the weakness in him was too much. Finally she must have realized it too, because she released his arm and tried to help Crono hold off the foes climbing up the side of the cliff for them.

The fighting was reaching a point that eventually led to their defeat, but Barts knew he would not be able to get up, not for a while. He had to do something though, or their lives were lost. He fumbled about his pockets out of desperation and felt nothing.

That was right! Crono had Epoch!

He struggled upward and sought out the red headed lad. He was near the edge of the cliff, slashing down at some humans trying to reach the top. Nadia was further away, closer to Bartz but heavily distracted by her own set of problems. She was at least safe where she was. If Crono could do it, he could enlarge Epoch between them and get inside. And if they were lucky, save them all!  
  
There was one problem he knew he had to worry about though—the mage. He was out there somewhere, and if he hit Epoch with a spell, who knows what would happen.

They had really gotten into the deep of it.

He reached into his pouch and felt around for his smoke bombs. He had only two left, so he had to make them count. He threw one at his feet and then threw the other toward Crono. The smoke quickly filled the area, covering them in a thick cloud.  
  
“Crono!” he howled over the wind and shouts. “Use Epoch!”

He had no idea if the lad could hear, or if he understood, but he prayed with all his might. As the seconds rolled by and Nadia was being forced back to Bartz, he feared the young warrior had not heard or worse, fallen victim to their enemies. But just as the smoke started to disperse he saw it. The glimmer of the ship’s hull and the whirling lights centered at the back near the engines.

Around the ship were a dozen or so humans and lizards, unconscious or dead, others were blown clear off the cliff. Crono was no where to be seen. Bartz feared he had been thrown off the cliff as well, until Epoch turned in place and Bartz could see Crono through the window.  
  
Relief flooded through his icy veins. The young lad had made it! Suddenly he felt fingers dig into his upper arm again and lifted his head, as heavy as it felt, to see Nadia. She was dragging him towards the ship, which turned back around to face the enemies. There was not much Crono could do but scare them back, so they didn’t have time.  
  
“Bartz! Stand up! Please!” they were less than five feet away from Epoch when he shrugged out of her hands and willed himself to stand. His legs felt like noodles, and a searing pain raced up his spine to his head. His vision flickered but he took a step and another and another until he collapsed against the side of the ship.

“A few more steps, Bartz!” Nadia howled, opening the door. A cooling breeze rushed out to greet them. “Stand up!”he reached up to grab onto the corner of the door and lifted himself up. Every muscle in his body burned thoroughly in protest, but he ignored it, until the door closed behind him and he dropped to the cool surface of the floor.

He felt the ship whirl up into the sky in incredible speed, felt the ship jostle as something crashed into it and then Crono swore. Epoch lurched to the left violently, probably to avoid another attack, and then spun back to the right.

Nadia was holding onto the seat, eyes twisted shut. Bartz had rolled hard into the wall but quickly wrapped his arm around the base of the nearest chair.

“Hold on!” Crono cried out, reaching to pull a lever to his right. He yanked it up and then took the stirring wheel again. The ship stalled, as if it was falling through the air, but the outside whirled pass them in dull grays and blues. It was as if they were traveling between planets again but it took a second for Bartz to release it was just the immense speed of Epoch.  
  
As the end of the speed, the ship hiccuped and buckled. Nadia clutched harder with both arms but Bartz’ weakness caused him to lurch up and smash into the roof. Crono’s eyes were glued to the window in front of him, teeth bared and knuckles white.

And then the ship dropped out of the speed and Bartz fell back to the floor with a loud ‘umpf’. The hull resounded with weak croons for a few seconds before it settled and they were drifting through the clouds.

Crono released the wheel, unbuckled his seat and hurried to the back of the cock pit to take Nadia into his arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, grimacing when Crono touched where she had been slashed. He made a face and she held him away. “I’m fine, Crono, it is just a scratch.” it wasn’t, but he understood she meant it wasn’t serious. She gasped and practically shoved Crono out of the way to get to Bartz.

For a moment the adventurer thought she was worried, but when she knelt and took him by the ear, he realized worry was probably the furthest from what she was. “What is wrong with you? What happened out there? You were like a sack of potatoes!”

Crono laughed a little dryly and then tore her away as Bartz lifted himself up and propped himself against the chair. His flesh was pale and clammy, but it looked better than it did out on the field. At least to them. Bartz still felt like he was near death, or too close for comfort.

“Was it the mage?” Crono asked after a moment, when the silence grew too heavy. Bartz sighed. “If it wasn’t the mage, what happened?”

“I’m not sure...it could have been the mage, I guess, but I don’t know. It felt...odd.”

“Odd how?”

“I felt so weak that I could barely breathe...I’ve never felt it before. I’ve never seen a spell do something like that either.”

“It could be this world’s difference in magicks,” Nadia said. “If it alarms _you_ , then we should be very worried about what else these people and things can do.”

Bartz closed his eyes and rested his head back against the chair to think. He hadn’t gotten even a second at looking at the mage. Whoever it was, he was no novice. He knew where to hide to keep out of the way of his infantry, as if of the shadows, and knew what distance would be acceptable for his spells. Not only that, he had to be quite powerful to take out Leviathan with one shot—a magic that the summon was supposed to be exceptionally resistant to.

“...we should circle around and see what we can spot of them.” Crono headed back to the wheel but when he was seated, Bartz told him to wait. “Why? If we stay high in the clouds we can—”

“No. Their mage is too powerful. We can’t risk it, especially not the ship.” he used the chair as support to stand but even then his legs buckled. “We just need to find the anomaly. Where are we?” Crono looked to the screen for a map and then sighed.

“We’re further away from them than when we first landed. I think the speed of Epoch increased since the last time I used it. I took us too far.”

 _No kidding_ , Bartz thought grimly. “Well then, we just use Epoch to take us where we need to go. I’m done with running about the rain and mud, and now we're even further away from them than when we started. We don't have the time for this!”

Nadia looked at him, shaking her head. “There are rules to follow.”

“Forget the rules,” he snapped. “We didn’t seem to stand out much back there. Our ship will blend in and we will blend in, but if something happens to the anomaly before we get to him, everyone is doomed.”

They let the silence drift on. They all had their own opinions on how to go about their mission, but none of them could deny that the further the anomaly got from them, the closer to doom they got. To Nadia though, the rules were set for a good reason, and breaking them could have unthinkable consequences.

“Fine,” she conceded. “but the rules were set for a reason. If we do something here this world doesn’t even have or know about yet, it could be disastrous not only for them but for us. Do we all understand that?”

Bartz said, “Anything we will do will have been done. Our paths have been decided.” they stared at him, not understanding. “Think about it. Time knows what will happen. It is set in stone. Whatever we do it has already been decided.”

Nadia considered it for a moment, frowning. It certainly made sense considering what she and her friends had experienced and what she had always considered, but then again, how could any of them understand how time travel worked? You could make theories, sure, but prove them? It would be almost impossible. And there was no telling if they were on the same planet just thousands of years into the future or an entirely different planet altogether. And planetary travel was one thing, because changes could be isolated to that planet, but the risks beyond that was just too much to forget.

“And if you’re wrong?”

“We can’t do anything with this weight on us,” he said. “Every step then could have unimaginable consequences on this planet or time itself. Everything we do, from even existing on this planet, could be disastrous.”

Crono asked, “What is your point, Bartz?”

“My point is that if we worry that every little thing we do or say will ruin life itself, we won’t have many options available to us to do what we need to. I think a little alterations in time or a few hiccups on a planet is an acceptable trade off for the continued existence of life itself.”

The red-headed pilot smiled softly. “Well...I really can’t argue there, but you haven’t felt the effects of time travel before, so you wouldn’t understand our reluctance to stamp all over the rules. It is true worrying so much will get us nowhere, but not worrying about it at all will ruin us.”

Bartz couldn’t help but notice the implications behind their tone. _Something happened to them before…_

“We need a middle ground then,” Nadia whispered, leaning against the chair. “but what?”

They were right that he had no idea the effects of messing with a planet’s timeline could have, but he knew the effects of the Void dying would have. There would be nothing, not even life. It would all be consumed in darkness. There wouldn’t be a single timeline to worry about then. However, he knew that Nadia and Crono were also right—there had to be something they followed to keep a time line from being utterly destroyed.

“We will think on it,” he said. “but right now, we’re thankfully on a planet or a timeline that accepts what we can do and our traveling methods. All we have to do is avoid telling people who we are, where we come from and what this ship can really do. And that should be easy, shouldn’t it?”

Nadia smiled. “Easy enough, I guess. What next, then?”

“We get back on track,” he answered, walking around the seat to carefully.

Crono turned halfway in his seat to look at them again, with a smile. “Then we go to the giant city, right?”

Bartz seated himself with a weak sigh and relaxed into the small comforts of the chair. “To the city. I just hope our run in with those lunatics haven’t cost us anything...”

~∞~

There was naught left in the air but the gentle drizzle of a passing storm.  
  
The field had been littered with corpses and injured men alike, divided and scarred by high walls of rock and trenches made from powerful torrents. It was dirtied the moment they arrived, burdened with the corpses of a much smaller force than their own, but where those who came before failed, he would rein victorious—or so he would have.

He did not expect such a powerful summoner on his enemy’s side, one so versed that he could summon one of the most dangerous Espers the world knew of. He was not prepared. No, it was worse than that—he was over confident, but that was a mistake that would not be repeated.

The sound of a group of men approaching turned his eyes from the bloodied field to his right. Ten men had climbed up the cliffs, drenched to the bone from the rain and burdened by thick layers of mud and other debris. One of them had a broken arm, and another seemed to have lost his left eye sometime in the battle.

The one at the head of the group dropped his head when their eyes met. “There is no indication of where they were headed left in the waystation, m’lord.”

The man’s eyes gazed back out across the field to the tiny little building where his prey had walked out of and right into his trap. His blood boiled. Yet another failure. It would not do. He lifted his eyes to the clouds, south where the airship had fled. His men were still waiting, unfazed by the cool touch of the rain or the bitter winds.

The same wind tugged at his dark cloak even as he said, without facing them, “Bring me the Optrix.” the men shuffled off one by one into the gentle drizzle as quickly as they had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, this one is a bit longer than the others. Not too much happens and the group kind of gets set back, but I promise, it was for a reason as you probably guessed by the ending! I don't want everything rushed, so I hope you don't mind a sort of slow-burn. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for sticking through this with me! I love you, my precious readers! :D
> 
> *formatting may be messed up! I'll be going through it again to make sure there are no double spaces, enters, marks etc. For some reason upon pasting it into the editor, my document's contents were all borked up. If you notice strange errors or whatnot, please message me! :)*


	7. The Royal City of Rabanastre

**Chapter VI:**  
  
The Royal City of Rabanastre

Sometime in their imprisoned journey, Randi had closed his eyes. He tried to keep awake, so that he could not be caught off guard, but his body was just too exhausted to comply. The last thing he saw was Tidus checking on Terra.

When he woke, it was due to the wagon jostling about violently. He startled upward, breath caught and searched for the source of the attack. The wagon had stopped. Randi relaxed back into the hard seat and glanced to his left. Tidus was still beside Terra, though he was glaring at the men in front of him.

The soldiers suddenly crouched and hurried out of the wagon. The last to leave stopped Randi from following. “Stay here until the commander comes to see you.” and then he leapt out of the back, and the flap closed behind him. In the second that they could see outside, they saw dozens of other men and a high, strange wall.

“We must have arrived.” Randi mumbled.

“Yea, but to where?” Tidus asked, looking toward the flaps.

“Wherever we are, we stick together. That’s how we get out of this and back to our worlds.” Tidus gave a pert nod before letting the silence take them. Outside they could hear rapid foot steps dash by them, the sound of chocobos and strange metallic noise. It was oddly mesmerizing to Randi, but his friend didn’t seem to care for it.

 _A different world_ , Randi thought, awed. _One with living mana_. It did not seem possible to see the strange spiritual elements again, but he had. His new friends seemed especially well versed in the manipulation of spirits. Maybe the commander will help us return to our worlds.

A quieted moan broke the silence between them. Randi looked over and saw Terra struggling to sit up. Tidus hurried to help her up. “You’re awake,” he said quietly, hoping it would help. “Are you okay?”

She lifted a hand to her head and flinched. “I...I think so.” she noticed where they were and tried to sit up further. “What happened? Where are we?” her eyes scanned the darkness frightfully.

“We’re in a wagon right now, but where...well we don’t know,” Tidus told her. “The soldiers that attacked us brought us here.”

Feeling like she should know, Randi continued with, “We were attacked a while ago but the soldiers held them off.”

“Attacked?”

“By those lizard things,” Tidus said. “They found us again.”

Terra visibly shuddered by the thought that they came close to being recaptured and looked at them with tired eyes. “I think they are called ‘bangaa’. I heard the name when they first found me, and again from...” she hesitated. “...from the others.”

Randi did not understand what she meant until the words caused Tidus to reach out and touch her hand. Others, as in prisoners.

“We’re lucky we got away,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around her chest, as if to protect herself from them. “The things they did...”

Randi wanted to say something, anything, but he had nothing. He clamped his mouth shut. The truth was he had no idea what they might have experienced in that prison, or even in the pit, and if he was guessing correctly, Terra had been there even longer than Tidus. The horrors they must have faced every day...it was unimaginable.

The muffled shuffle of something outside of the wagon drew their attention quickly and completely. Tidus stiffened, ready to spring forward into action. The flaps opened, allowing in bright light and a very strange scent, something metallic maybe.

Standing directly in their view was the commander, dressed in far lighter armor than before. At his side were about a dozen other soldiers. “We have arrived. If you would be so kind as to exit the wagon as politely as you entered it, I would be very grateful for the cooperation.” that’s when he noticed that Terra was awake and smiled. “The lady is awake. That is good news. You will follow my good captain, please. Once you are through, you will be taken back to your friends.”

Terra looked at them, confused. Randi had completely spaced out. They never told her about the commander, or the directives they had been given. Tidus was the one that gave her a strong smile.

“Go, you’ll be safe with ‘em.”

She glanced back at the commander, unsure, and then looked back at Tidus. “Who is this man? Why do I have to go with him?”

Keeping that cheerful smile on his face, he said, “It’ll be okay Terra. They will help you.”

The commander was extremely patient with their little talk, but upon hearing the concern in her voice, he said, “You will find no enemies here, m’lady. Please, let my captain take you to see our medical officers. They will treat your wounds. Your friends will be fine, I swear it upon my honor.”

Hesitantly, she agreed to go. Tidus helped her stand and helped to lower her out of the wagon to one of the soldiers, who quickly ushered her off with three other men. One of them was the captain from earlier.

The commander watched her go before facing them. “You made a wise decision, and I will mention your cooperation to my queen, but for now, please exit the wagon.” The commander took several steps back to allow them access off the wagon. Tidus went first. He stopped only a foot or so away from the wagon, looking about with a strange expression on.

Eager to see what kind of places the strange new world had, Randi hurried out after him. The light burned at his eyes for a moment before they adjusted. The sight was incredible. High walls, higher than anything he ever saw before, raced up towards the sky. Towers loomed even higher all around them, and strange little metal things flew out of them while others flew back in. Above in the clouds large contraptions flew by, casting enormous shadows all across the street.

Dozens and dozens of soldiers rushed to and fro many different stations. Others led chocobos down a long hall and some even hammered away at strange floating objects Randi could not even begin to guess the purposes of. He had no words to describe the strange and wonderful things he was seeing.

And, even stranger, was the little white creature that hurried out of a doorway before them, carrying a large metal board. His little wings fluttered every so often, gently lifting him off the ground a few inches or so. The thing seemed to be heading directly towards them, too.

The commander faced the creature. “Maetelton, you are late.”

The little creature snorted and lifted a little finger to point at him. “I am never late, commander, not ever.” and then his little eyes focused on them and his wings fluttered again. “And who are they?”

The commander said, “They were caught in the Westersand by my men.” the little creature ah’d. “I must see the queen at once, as you can imagine. I will leave them in your care until I return.” the man did not wait for an answer. He turned and walked away.

“Tsk! Should like to hear a please, at the very least,” the creature said, turning to Randi and Tidus. “Wandering the Westersand, of all places...your wits must’ve left you. Well,” he motioned them to follow. “no sense in gaggling about here. Follow me and please keep your clever little escape plans to just that—plans.”

As the creature hurried off back to the building it came from, Tidus leaned toward Randi and said, “Good news...I recognize that thing.”

“You do?”

“It’s a moogle,” he said before following after it.

 _A moogle?!_ He thought, _but...but that can't be._ He could not recall meeting any moogle that looked like the creature before them, but Tidus had used the same name on a creature with relatively simple similarities. _This world...it has magic and moogles, just like my own._ He could not figure out why that was so, but he had a feeling that more similarities would appear sooner or later.

With a nervous curiosity, Randi hurried after Tidus.

~∞~

The quiet tap of the soldiers’ boots on the metal pathway managed to keep her eyes open. The pain in her arm was throbbing and standing for so long brought exhaustion to her bones, but she pressed on, determined not to fall or to give in to the sharp pain. She knew she could have cured the injuries herself, but she dared not reveal what she was capable of in front of strangers. Not again. She had learned her lesson.

She wasn’t sure what place she had woken to, but one thing she was sure of was that people with power were used as nothing more than slaves. It wasn’t just the lizards that cheered on her trials in the pit either, but humans and so many other strange beings. There was just no telling if the soldiers leading her now were any different.

As they passed under an archway leading into a narrow and dark corridor, she hesitated. The men paused, waiting for her. One of them stepped toward her. “If you would, m’lady, the office is at the end of the corridor.”

Her eyes went passed him into the looming darkness, unsure and frightened. _What would Tidus do?_ She found herself wondering. She had used him as a crutch when they fought in the pits for so long she couldn’t quite stand without him.

The captain pressed her again. “We must hurry, m’lady.” reluctantly she followed after them into the dark. She closed her eyes, not just against the pain in her arm or lightheaded weakness, but against the bubbling fear in her chest. When she opened them again, the walls seemed as if they closed in by a foot. The men in front of her crept on, the clank of their iron boots echoing down corridor like the tired wails of some dying creature.

Hanging from the unlit walls were long red robe-like curtains, marked with some strange sigil Terra could not figure. Standing a considerable distance between each other were unpolished, dirty busts of various people, women and men, and even children. She tried to catch a glimpse of the writing on the busts, but the soldiers were moving too fast.

Before she knew it, the soldiers stopped the company at a large door. Two of the soldiers pushed the door open, revealing a circular metallic looking room.

The roof was made of glass, enforced by long iron limbs and bolts. Scattered all around the room were about a dozen or so different shelves packed so full with literature and scrolls they practically spilled back out. Several long tables were lined up at perfect distances, littered with documents and various tools. A few more banners laid down the length of empty walls, with the same strange sigil.  
  
Three people buzzed about the room. They were all dressed in large white robes, trimmed with red, gold or blue. Two of them, one with blue trim and red trim, were running back and forth from each shelf frantically as the other, an elderly male with gold trim on his robe, shouted at them over an old tome in his hands.

“Master Aradur,” the captain said, announcing his presence. “We require your medical assistance immediately.” the elderly man faced them and, as if perfect timing, Terra stumbled. Her eyes were suddenly very hard to keep open. It wasn’t until she felt hands on hers that she realized that she had clutched at her injury.

“This is why I told that damn fool to bring Soler or Ta’sira with him. It is foolishness to wander out without a mage capable of white magic.” he investigated the injury for a moment before standing to lead them to a chair by one of the tables. “Help her over here. The injury isn’t too serious. Soler, tend to it. Issue a intermediate level cure _after_ evaluation.”

Magic.

The word lit her consciousness on fire.

The lad with blue trim hurried over just as the captain helped Terra to sit in the chair. The weakness was beginning to tire her out. She fought to keep her eyes open, if only to understand more of the strange place she had been thrown into. A country where magic still existed, and one that the world had not seen before. Did they feel the effects of the Warring Triad's disappearance at all?

The lad, Soler, tried to gently move her hand out of the way but she did not budge. If they could use magic, perhaps.… “I...I can cure it myself.”

“Oh?” the elderly man approached. “Well, since your injury does not appear to be life threatening, I would like it if you would let my apprentice here test out his knowledge. Soler, what do you make of it?”

The lad disengaged her hand from the wound finally and inspected it for a moment. “It appears to be just as you say master. Shall I issue the cure now?”

“A medical officer double checks his evaluation,” the elderly man said softly, reminding the lad. The youth went pink and ducked his head. “Once you are sure there is no infection, proceed with the cure, as any babe could tell you a cure does not cure afflictions. Ta’sira, m’girl, where...ah there you are. Accompany Soler’s spell, make sure he does not expand too much energy. I shall not have my pupils learn inefficient methods of spellcraft.”

“Yes, master,” the other youth said, turning around into the light facing them. As soon as Terra saw that the other apprentice was a Bangaa, she stiffened.

They were even here!

The lad noticed and becoming visibly disturbed by her change of demeanour as the Bangaa approached them, hesitated. “Is something wrong?” he followed her eyes to Ta’sira and frowned. “What’s wrong?” Terra forced herself to look away and shake her head.

Aradur asked, “Where did you find this young lady, captain? If I may be so bold as to ask.”

“We found her and two males in Westersand. They were escaping Phantom’s Corpse.”

“Ah, slavers,” he muttered. “Well, think naught of it m’dear, you are within safe walls now and the queen protects her citizens and guests with great ferocity.”

The captain gave the elderly fellow a salute and then bowed his head. “I thank you, master Aradur, you always perform your job superbly. I must go see the commander to inform him the lady is well now, would you mind keeping her here until I may return to retrieve her?”

At the same time Aradur said, “Of course not.” Terra stumbled out of the chair, the color draining from her flesh, and said, “I was promised I would be brought back to my friends!”

The captain paused at the door. “My commander promised you that you would be with your friends soon and so it shall be, but you must stay here until I return for you. It is protocol.” and then he left, closing the door behind him in a dull thud.

Aradur turned to his apprentices with a smooth turn on his heels. “Soler, tend to that cure ‘fore the poor lass bleeds to death on my floor. Ta’sira, once you have accompanied him with his spell, I require several phials of ether from the depot.”

“Master, the supplies are in level three rationing and—”

“The medical field is not restricted until level four, m’girl, now be quick about your tasks and get me my ethers. I will take my break to the study. Do not interrupt me unless you absolutely must.” he looked at Terra for a flat second, in a way that unsettled her, and then briskly exited the circular room through a small door at the opposite side of the room.

When he was gone, the lad touched Terra’s arm. “I’m ready.” Ta’sira neared and instructed him only for a moment before letting him cast his spell. The sway of the spell washing over Terra was beyond comforting. The pain left her in just seconds, with the injury hissing away in a tiny tendril of steam.

“There,” the lad said, standing straight and lifting the cuffs of his robe up higher, as they were very clearly too large for his scrawny body. “Thanks to my master spellcrafting, you have been utterly healed.” Ta’sira snorted, though it mostly turned to a laugh.

Terra lifted herself out of the chair and gingerly prodded the skin where the injury had been. It was gone. It was hard to believe magic existed, even after all this time seeing it from those she fought and those that enslaved her. How she missed the feel of it.

“You know, I have never seen a hume with hair quite like yours,” Ta’sira mentioned as she pushed the chair back against the table. Terra looked at her quickly, alarmed. She hadn’t thought about her hair in such a long time it passed from her list of worries. “Are you from Rozzaria? I hear they dye their hair all sorts of colors.”

“Ta’sira, stop blathering your annoying Rozzaria obsessions to our patient!” the lad said aloud, as he walked over to clear a table they must have been using to study prior to her walk in. “You’ll bore her to death.”

“I do not have an obsession,” she snapped back at him, resting her bulky hands on her hips. “I am just asking!” and then she smiled toward Terra. “Say, what is your name anyway?”

Knowing she could not keep it a secret, as Tidus or Randi most likely have said her name, she ducked her eyes. “Terra.”

“Well, Terra, if you still feel woozy, don’t be afraid to say so and I will fix you up. Soler is a low tier apprentice after all and might not have used his spell appropriately.”

“I am not low tier!” The Bangaa girl simply giggled.

Terra took the chance to mark out the room’s exits as they argued. If she wanted to run, she could easily make it to the door the captain had led her through. She did not have an injury to slow her down and now that she knew magic was not rare, she could escape without much challenge at all. The two youths before her looked frail, and the boy's magic was weak. She had felt that. ANd she could sense the girl's too from when she helped him. They would offer her no challenge.

Soler caught her staring at the door and laughed. “Most patients are impatient, but don’t worry, the captain will come back and take you to your friends. He’s a good man, just like the commander.”

“The commander...” she looked finally peeled her eyes away from the door to stare at them. “...do you know where he might have taken my friends?”

“Well,” Ta’sira said, frowning. “if you were picked up at the Westersand, then they were taken to the palace to see the queen.” she hesitated. “You aren’t planning on leaving here, are you? Because that would be a very bad idea, especially if you _are_ innocent. The Royal Army almost never takes prisoners or criminals to a medical office or treats them well or...or as nicely as they are treating you.”

“Don’t scare her, Ta’sira,” Soler said from his spot at the desk. “You make us sound like Imperials.”

“Old Imperials,” she corrected with a snap.

“Imperials?” Terra dared to ask. A ring started to build in her ears. Magic and Imperials. This was not good.

“Yes, don’t listen to Soler though, not all Imperials are bad. Most aren’t, they were just doing what they were told. Everything is fine now with the peace.”

Peace? What peace? She was growing increasingly confused by this strange place, and horrified. How could anyone trust any peace sued by the Empire? It was insanity. Had the world forgotten what the Empire did already? She could not believe that the world she woke to was so dramatically different than the one she knew, but it was, and it was terrifying.

“...tell that to the families they killed,” Soler muttered under his breath. “I’m sure the new Emperor isn’t some craven, but it is too soon to ask people to forget their sins or the blood they spilled.”

“It is never too soon to forge peaceful alliances and forgive,” Ta’sira glanced over from her friend to Terra once more. “I’m sure you aren’t as thick headed as Soler. I mean, it isn’t like we are dealing with some slavers, but things just aren’t black and white. Just look around the city, you will see so many in peace, even Imperials. Do you think they will stop to slit your throat, Soler? I should think not!”

"They destroyed Nabradia," he added. "Or did you forget that? A whole country wiped out! Destroyed! Thousands and thousands of lives lost."

 _Nabradia?_ She recalled the maps she had poured over in the Figaro library, with Locke at her side, teaching her what she did not know or rather what she could not remember. There were no more countries than Figaro, Doma and the Empire. _He said it was a country, I heard him well enough, but...but there aren't any countries with that name, let alone cities._ And then fearing the thought that trampled into the already terrifying haze in her mind, Terra asked, “What is this place? Where am I?”

This made the two apprentices glance at each other, clearly not understanding, and then Ta’sira said, “The Royal City of Rabanastre.”

~∞~

Randi could not believe the things that he was seeing as they inched their way down a long corridor made of stone, where the walls were left open between each pillar, allowing the burning sunlight to pierce through.

The architecture was simply stunning and like nothing he has ever seen. It crept high into the sky, and was crafted so meticulously it seemed impossible for human hands to forge. The most common material was not stone or metal, or even wood, but strange hard materials that clanged against harsh touch and reflected where it was polished. Each arch leading to another section of the castle was made exceptionally high, as if meaning to allow in giants, and opened up into a glass room where the sun could linger and the brilliant blue sky could be seen.

Where it was stone, it was exquisite. Each block was cut into large, perfect rectangles and colored with checkers or flora, and strange glyphs. The walls were adorned with long tapestries depicting what appeared to be some sort of creature against orbs or suns, against backdrops of pale purple or blue. The columns that lifted the vaulted ceiling were twisted stone and metal hybrids, and the dots of light that littered the halls further in seemed to float and did not run with fire, or any that he could see at least.

It was a sight to behold and it was so exciting that for a moment Randi forgot their situation to glance at Tidus, to see how he was taking in the sight, but he didn’t seem to be amazed by any of it, at all. He actually looked confused as he lifted his eyes to see the vaulted ceiling.

“It’s amazing,” he whispered over to his companion. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It...it is so advanced.”

Tidus said, “It really isn’t.” unable to ask Tidus what he meant by that as the moogle stopped them at some small door to their left, he decided it would be something to save for later. Perhaps if they got out of their current situation without being labeled as criminals.

“Here we are,” the moogle said, fluttering up to open the door. “Inside please, I haven’t got all day.” they entered the room with unsure steps. It was well lit and large enough to house a thousand strong if, but was utterly empty. At one end of the room was another exit, though the door was doubled and stood higher than needed. A small platform raised up to it a good five feet.

Randi was not sure what to make of it. It didn’t seem to be a prison cell, and their escort was so tiny that if they wanted to, they could easily escape. Was this some sort of test? To see if they ran out of guilt or something?

“Wait here. The commander will be along shortly. I would say don’t touch anything but...” the moogle shook his head with a little laugh, amused with himself. “Do remember your manners and your place, while you are at it.” and then he left, sealing the door behind them.

“Manners?” Tidus finally said. The words echoed. “There isn’t anyone here.”

Randi shrugged and went further into the room. The floor was made much the same as the rest, but the glyphs they represented were entirely different. Larger and more intricate, they depicted beings of some sort and were surrounded by stranger symbols. When he gazed closer, he could have mistaken them as some sort of language.

_That’s right, we are in a different world. They would speak and write a different language than us, though it sounds the same to me._

“If that bastard lied to us,” Tidus smashed a fist into his hand.

“What reason would he have to lie to us? He’s treated us fine so far, so I think we should trust him.”

“You must not have met the kind of people who befriend you and lie to you to get what they want.” he mumbled. He went to the door that was locked behind them and tried to pull it open. It would not budge. “Help me with this door, would ya?”

Randi wasn’t so sure about escaping, but as he went to help they heard a short clap noise behind them. “And here I thought I would ask the queen to excuse your actions.” they turned to see the commander standing at the double door, watching them with furrowed brows and a clear look of disappointment.

Randi let go of the door immediately, and Tidus faced him with a glare that said it all. “Your queen should let us go anyway. We didn’t know the ‘Westersand’ was illegal to pass through and we were too concerned being enslaved to worry about it even if we had known.”

Randi gulped back a ‘quiet, Tidus!’ because he was right. They didn’t know and if they had known, it wasn’t like they had much of a choice.

The commander let out a long, winded sigh before he motioned them to follow. He went back through the door without a word. Randi passed Tidus a look before he shrugged and hurried after the man.

“Wait!” he heard Tidus hiss. He paused for him. “You don’t know what he’s leading us to, Randi.”

“Come on Tidus,” he said. “we don’t have much choice, right? At least this way we’re uncuffed. If something happens, we can fight back.” the blond mumbled something under his breath, a swear if Randi heard right, and then ran up the platform.

Through the double doors the room changed, though not as dramatically as the open halls to the inner halls like before. The ceiling was vaulted like the rest of the palace and there were even pillars running long columns down the length of the room, but the major difference was that the room was heavily decorated. There were busts, statues, paintings, tapestry, pennants, golden curtains and tall, strange and beautiful trees and flowers in square pots or peaking out through embedded gardens at each side of the nave.

The nave ran to the end, where another platform was raised off the ground, though only by a foot or so. Centered at the top, ahead of apse with a large mosaic depiction of some being, was a large iron chair, cushioned with silks and thick cushions.

Sitting on the iron chair was a slender woman, with sandy blond hair cropped at the jaw. A slender silver crown, crafted in the likeliness of feathered wings, sat upon her brow and a long steel sword, which shone purple under the sunlight filtering through the windows at the sides of the room, rested atop her lap as if in a warning or a threat.

Randi knew instantly this woman was the aforementioned queen, even if she had not be seated upon a throne. She gave the aura of great authority and elegance, though the stare they were given as they approached showed unreal ferocity. He had not met many people, let alone women, that could give such a stare.

The commander dropped to one knee before her and ducked head, resting one gloved hand against his knee and the other against his heart. And then he rose, quickly, and faced Randi and Tidus. “You have the honor to stand before her royal highness Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca, the one true Queen of Dalmasca and Rabanastre and the last true daughter of the Dynast King.”

She rose from her throne when the commander finished, revealing an attire made almost entirely of armor rather than fancy silks or cottons. Suited beneath a heavy cuirass was a long red blouse, fitted with vambraces over her forearms. Beneath her silver greaves she wore baggy trousers the color of sand, with red and gold threads. The armor itself did not look new, and as Randi stared, the more he saw heavy dents that had been hammered out and scuffs and scratches. She had seen battle. It was not entirely unheard of that a queen should fight, but it was exceptionally rare where he came from and it certainly never was recorded they wore armor like a man and battled so heavily they were commonly damaged.

This world truly was different than his own.

The Queen stepped down the platform quietly, having lifted the sword to sheath it. She stopped a foot away from the commander, eyes still on them. “These are the criminals from the Westersand?”

The commander gave a pert nod. She narrowed her eyes at them. “I have heard the report from my commander, a good and honorable man, but I should hear it from you as well. Tell me and tell me truly, why were you in those wastes?”

Randi couldn’t find his voice fast enough, still so shocked by everything, so Tidus answered her. “We were captured, forced to fight in pits for months for the pleasure of a crowd of freaks.” Randi flinched. He forgot to tell Tidus that this world probably had alliances with the lizard beings they had seen and that they may not appreciate his hateful terms. “We were just trying to get away.”

The Queen’s eyes went to Randi next. “And you?”

“I woke in their prison,” he managed to say after calming himself. “I have no memory of being brought there, though, and I wasn’t made to fight in the pits....yet.”

She glanced to the commander. “You said there were three. Where is the third?”

“With the medical officers. She was injured, presumably by the slavers, my queen.” she crossed her arms and a look of annoyance crossed her expression.

“The Phantom’s Copse does not tolerant women,” she muttered aloud, and Randi could not help but shake the hidden tone in her voice. It was clear to her now that they were not slavers, simply being associated to a woman. “This woman, she is a friend of yours? Was she forced to fight in the pits?”

This time Tidus’ reply came with a pause. Randi could feel the guilt over his words. “Yes...she was there even longer than I was.”

“It is clear you are no slavers,” she said, raising her voice. “The commander believes so as well,” Tidus looked shocked to hear it. “but there still exists the issue of breaking my laws. I understand you did not have a choice, fleeing from the Phantom’s Corpse, but if I let it get know that you were allowed, no matter the circumstance, through the Westersand without the penalty promised my laws will continuously be questioned, dared even. I _cannot_ have that.”

Randi was appalled. Even in the face of enslavement their actions could not be forgiven? “You will punish us, for something we could not control?”

She uncrossed her arms and said, “The Westersand is far too dangerous to allow my people through and the only way to convince them that it is too dangerous is to also present a penalty that would convince them the risk is too great to take, even if they were somehow to survive the wastes. You,” she gestured to them with a small flick of her hand. “represent the unsavory reality of survival—a contradiction to my claims. And no queen should ever be contradicted in the face of such dangers.”

“You sound like a tyrant,” Tidus spat.

“You will mind your tongue before the queen,” the commander issued, reaching for his sword as if to make a promise he would not tolerate it again.

“Do not mind him, Damase,” she said quickly. “I do not like having to take this position. I spent too long fighting tyranny to embrace is as I have, but the situation is dire. I have to lay down harsh law to keep my people alive, for that is the sole worry of a king or queen. The safety of the people.”

“And our punishment? Randi asked.

She offered them a small smile, clearly amused. “I did not say I would press charges against you, even if my better judgment tells me I should so I am not questioned, but the people do not have to know you weren’t punished. The problem lies, then, in the fact that the people saw you wheeled in from the wastes, so they know you exist.”

“My queen,” the commander started. “I suggest the Golden Hunt.”

She looked at him. “Are you sure?”

“I am,” he said, looking over at Randi and Tidus. “The lad is young, but that should be no problem, if you will allow it, I mean.”

“I allow it. We are finished here. Commander, escort them out—”

“Wait!” Tidus snapped. “You just threatened us with punishment and now you are letting us go?”

“Mind your tongue!” the commander reminded him with a tongue of fire. “You should be on your knees in gratitude for the mercy the queen has given you. You would not find it much else!”

“Patience, commander,” she said, waving him down. She looked at Tidus, squarely. “Yes, I made you a veiled threat, as a warning not to break my laws again, whether or not you can help it, but I am also letting your crimes go….with relatively low penalty. You will join the good commander in his unit the Golden Hunt and help him root out the scum that had taken you as their property. When you have finished, or when I or my commander have decided you served adequately enough, you will be relieved of your duties and be free to go.”

“So we’re going from ownership, that’s the only difference,” he snapped. “I’m not doing anything but walking out of this place with my friends.”

Ashelia rolled her eyes and glanced at the commander. “Would you please explain to this irksome fool why it is in his best interest to take my ‘punishment’, de Bouillon?”

The commander reached for something in a satchel at his waist and then opened his hand towards them. Lying at the center of his palm and no bigger than a cherry pit was a small crystal that seemed to breathe a thousand colors a second. “You were fitted with headgear when they captured you, weren’t you? IT sapped you of your ability to use magic?”

Tidus hesitated. “Yes...”

“Manufactured nethicite,” he bumped the crystal in his hand, jostling it a bit. “It is common for the larger pirates and slavers to use such devices on their captives, even for bounty hunters, but the specialty of the Phantom’s Corpse is that they have figured out a method of tracking their prisoners as well as sapping them of their magical power. I had my men backtrack through the Westersand and they found the devices you and your friend left behind. This came from one of the pieces that you wore.” he handed it over to Tidus, who grimaced as he felt the powers taking effect. “What does this mean and why would it want you to help, you might ask? Try to make a guess as to why.”

Tracking, Randi thought. I wasn’t given a device yet, so I’m clear, but Tidus and Terra. He looked at the commander. “They are tracking us.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Or rather, they were. You were smart to ditch the devices as quickly as you could, but one of you were wearing a heavily modified version we seek answers about. One we have not yet seen in our dealings with the Phantom’s Corpse. It had more nethicite in it than needed for humes, seeq, bangaa or the like. In fact, it had five times the nethicite required to drive a Viera insane with rage, and even stranger is that it is a nethicite subtype we have never seen before, which makes it exceptionally dangerous.”

“What he is trying to say,” Ashelia cut in. “Is that whoever was wearing it experienced no more than magical drain, which is unheard of. If the nethicite was any indication of the person’s connection to the Mist, they are potentially more aligned with it than the Viera—the only race to be so connected to the Mist, that we know of, that they cannot control the tremendous power and rage in them when they come in contact with it.”

“We need to know more. It could save thousands of lives and could potential stop the crafting of a weapon that could reshape this planet under the flames of war yet again.” When they noticed the quiet from their two prisoners, the queen’s brows furrowed. “You are quiet. I do not like what it suggests.”

Randi looked at Tidus. “Should we tell them?”

Tidus crossed his arms.“If it means getting out of here, go right ahead.”

“What is it?” the commander asked. “What do you know of the nethicite?”

Randi started quietly. “First of all...we have no idea what ‘nethicite’ is, let alone a ‘Viera’. We did not know we were breaking your laws because we had no idea _where_ we were, because nothing in this world is familiar to us. Well, besides a moogle and a chocobo to my friend here. For me, while I know of a 'moogle', the kind I saw earlier is nothing like the kind I am aware of. In fact, the only thing I can really recognize is magic, which I know as ‘mana’.”

The Queen’s eyes darkened in annoyance. “A child could craft a more convincing tale as to why they didn’t know of my laws, but this? Do you take me for a fool?”

“Don’t believe us then,” Tidus said with a shrug. “I could barely believe it when I woke up. I was attacked by talking lizards, dragged into a cell and beaten until they could put that thing on my head without a fight. I had no idea where I was and neither did my friend—the woman you took from us earlier.” he passed a glare at the commander. “but that’s the damn truth.”

Wanting to seek a different approach to Tidus’s rather direct and tempered lead, Randi reached into one of his satchels and held something out to them. The Queen hesitantly took it. It was a small ring with his country’s common tongue etched into it. “Do you recognize that language?” She shook her head. “That’s _one_ of my world’s languages. It is what I speak and write in my world, a world we call ‘Fa’diel’. A world where magic has died. My name is Randi and I come from the village of ‘Potos’.”

“I come from Spira,” Tidus said as the queen raised her head to stare, in utter disbelief. “From a city called Zanerkand.”

Randi quickly added, “His name is Tidus.”

“If you can not believe us, that’s fine,” Randi continued, accepting the ring back. “but we are telling you the truth. I do not know how we came here, but we have, and we just want to go home. Fighting for your commander, even if it is against the slavers that took us, will only delay the search for a way home.”

“This is nonsense,” the commander whispered, but they could hear in his words that he did not doubt the words said. “Different worlds...and a world without magic? It...it is impossible.”

Ashelia was quiet for a long moment, eyes downcast, deep in thought. She looked up. “And the other one, the woman?”

“A different world too,” Randi said. “We don’t know much else though, because she was knocked unconscious by...well...” Randi let the sentence drag, passing a quick look at the commander.

“Well,” she straightened. “It seems you have an even greater reason to fight with my commander. If anyone knows a way back to your world, if this is even possible, it will be the Phantom Corpse. At least, it is a better lead than nothing. Perhaps you will find clues there that could lead to answers.”

Randi had not thought of that, but it made sense. He just assumed the slavers just happened along and saw profit. He glanced at Tidus. “What do you think? I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

Tidus tapped his foot against the floor. “I won’t be locked up like some damn criminal.”

“Of course,” the commander said with a small smile. “You will be treated with respect, the same kind my own men receive...should you accept.”

Tidus let out a long sigh and then shrugged. “Fine, but if it leads us to nowhere, we’re going our own way.”

Ashelia gave them a small nod. “Agreed. In the mean time, the commander will escort you to where you need to be.” she added. “If this is a lie and you intend to escape, I will not hesitate to have my men chase you down.” she turned from them and exited the room to the right. When the door closed, the commander ushered them to follow him.

"Come, I will take you to your friend now. After that, when you three are well rested in the morning, we will talk of the Golden Hunt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the Phantom's Corpse: I took major inspiration from Final Fantasy: Tactics (a good game, go play it), from both translations of the same group called 'Corpse Brigade', or 'Death Corps' in the original translation. Although yes, the one I am referring to is not a slavers' organization, it is actually a revolutionary organization. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! If not, keep the torches unlit until sundown. It's cooler that way! haha but if you liked it, awesome! If you have anything to say or suggest, feel free to pop me a PM or leave a review! :)
> 
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> *And oh yea, you may notice format errors from copy-pasting (I work in a writer). It's a bit annoying to see, I know. I'm dealing with them as I see them pop up though, so hang with me a bit longer please! Thanks for reading!


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